turducken in Calgary or Edmonton

[cleopatra999]

We are looking for something special and different this Christmas. Xmas dinner is in Calgary but we can pick up before hand in Edmonton if needed. Any ideas where to order one? Do you think we are too late?

[AriaDream]

I got the Cajun Turducken from Sobey's. It cost 85 dollars and opinion was mixed. I didn't like it as much as the one I got last year from the Greisser Spoon. It had hot sausage in it and the flavor permeated the whole thing. Also, I had trouble finding anything I could identify as duck. However, my parents loved it and thought it was better than the one from Greisser.

Either way, I'm definitely getting a turducken next year. :) Mmm mmm good!

[Teejay]

I had the Sobey's turducken too, and I agree, the spicy sausage was the predominant flavour. I am tempted to try Thompson's Turkey (Jeffrey Steingarten provides a recipe in one of his books) next year instead... anyone with experience with that?

[maplesugar]

again I'd recommend Railway deli in Canmore. No spicy sausage to dominate the flavour.

Teejay if you're looking to discuss cooking howtos and tips, there are a few Turducken threads over on the Home Cooking board where there is a legion of talented home cooks, and chefs who very generously share their knowledge. http://chowhound.chow.com/boards/31

[Scary Bill]

For y'all to compare to a purchased turducken, we made our third turducken this year, and based on past experience made a major change, using boneless skinless chicken and duck breasts, each breast butterflied and pounded a bit to ensure coverage and distinction among layers. It is a lot less greasy this way, and easier with no duck and chicken to debone as well as no diggin' out the fatty bits on your plate. Deboning a turkey is pretty easy as they are so big with the only stress arising when you remove the breast bone and have to be careful not to pierce the skin.

We tend to really stuff the turkey with the result that we turned a 15 pound bone-in turkey into a 31 pound turducken.

The Paul Prudhomme Cajun stuffing recipes we used were a breadcrumb and andouille stuffing, a cornbread and chicken liver stuffing, and a breadcrumb and shrimp stuffing.

Total cost of the ingredients was about a hundred bucks, so you can be sure that even at $110 bucks for a bought one, the sellers are not making a huge profit per turducken.

[maplesugar]

There are some things, including turducken, that I will leave to the pros. Thanks for the info Scary Bill - I think there are some turducken threads going on Home Cooking that could use your input too :)

[Lucki]

Not Cleopatra but I have a Turducken story to share! We ordered ours through Sunterra. They buy them from Valbella in Canmore. We probably could have bought straight from Valbella but my husband works near Sunterra so the convenience factor was a plus.

We picked up the Turducken on the 21st and started thawing it in the fridge that day. It was perfectly thawed by Christmas morning and my brother took over the cooking from there. Sunterra/Valbella provided an extra sheet of cooking instructions which were dead accurate for times and temperatures. The Turducken came out moist, browned and absolutely delicious.

I've attached a few photos below. :-)

[Bob Mac]

Thank you for the photos Lucki.

The roasted "bird" looks good. How would you describe the taste? I enjoy turkey, chicken and especially duck but rarely cook the latter. Can you discern the separate flavours or do they meld together especially with the stuffing if it, like the one described by cleopatra, is Italian sausage?

[TSAW]

Looks good. one question... it sounds like the stuffing in each of the layers is the same? I had this in Louisiana and the stuffing layers were different - I recall one cornbread, one italian sausage, but i don't recall the other.

[cleopatra999]

from the research I did you are correct TSAW, however these are not different, I can only imagine how much more expensive they would be if they made the stuffing authentic.

[raidar]

Seems like they are at quite a few Safeway's and Sobey's now. Around 75-100 bones.

[cleopatra999]

really? are they fresh or frozen?

[Zydecopapa]

I am sure I saw some frozen at the Royal Oaks Sobey's in Calgary.

[raidar]

Most definitely frozen.Now I can't wait to hear your experience cleo.

[cleopatra999]

the turducken has landed! we ordered from Canmore (Griesser Spoon). They are the only ones with the right size. I sure hope they are worth the moula!

I will report back after Xmas.

[raidar]

I know it's only the 27th celopatra999, but I'm interested to know what your experience was like!!

[Bob Mac]

as am I cleopatra999...I would have been even more interested had you purchased it at Andy's as it is significantly closer than Canmore.

Nothing exotic for us this year. An 8.5 kilo utility grade [missing part of one wing...who cares!] from Safeway for a very good price that probably gave me the most moist breast meat of any turkey that I have cooked over the past few years. I could not believe how many full sized sandwich sized slices I was able to carve off both sides of the breast.

Have finally "waved the white flag"...no more leftovers...broth is in the freezer...last of stuffing to go in the bin for tomorrow's pick up...remaining white and dark meat bagged and sealed and going into the freezer...tonite, steak!

[raidar]

I think we did pretty well here, We picked up a 6.5 kg and ended up with just a few leftover meals of turkey sandwiches and hot turkey sandwiches.

[Bob Mac]

raidar:

I have never had a turducken.

What does the term, "Around 75-100 bones." mean?

Is that a standard term of reference, i.e. fewer bones = more time deboning = higher price?, or is it something completely different?

[cleopatra999]

"75 -100 bones"
bones = dollars

We definitely enjoyed the 'bird'. We ordered half a turduken, it was 4.3 Kg. It cost $110 (yikes!). The layers were all very moist, the stuffing in between was good (Italian sausage/bread stuffing). I have to admit though, I don't think we would do it again, considering the cost. We cooked it the low and slow way, 7hrs at 200F, in accordance to the directions. The skin never got nice and crispy, it was more chewy. I did not know what to expect on the inside, but it was difficult to discern the difference in tastes, just colors, of the 3 birds. The skin was left on the duck, so there was a thick layer of fat that I found myself hunting for to take off.

We purchased gravy from them as well, which was needed as there were no drippings at all.

the whole thing was very remarkable looking. the next day when we had our turducken sandwiches and sliced it cold really showed off the layers. The slices fell apart the night before. I miss not having turkey soup though. Not sure what else to do with the tons of leftovers....

take this all with a grain of salt as I am not a huge turkey fan, I would rather have a really nice prime rib roast any time!!

I will post a picture when I have them uploaded :)

[Bob Mac]

cleopatra999:

LOL...."75 -100 bones: "bones = dollars

I better lay off the "holiday cheer" as I did not pick up on that at all thinking that it dealt with all of the deboning involved...at least that is my excuse....

I do enjoy turkey but know exactly what you mean about the prime rib. I have a roast in the freezer that I was tempted to thaw and cook as I am craving red meat but said it was too big for two and I am tired of leftovers.

[raidar]

Hey Bob. Sorry about the money reference. In my head I was playing on the fact that the turkey is de-boned, hence 75-100 bones or 75 to 100 dollars.

[cleopatra999]

here are our photos, very different looking than Lucki, but ours was a half....and not nearly as 'pretty'

[raidar]

Thanks for the update. Turducken is quite the beast. Did you crank the heat (or put on the broiler) for the last 10 minutes to try for crispy skin? I think part of the flavour blend comes from all the animal fats mixing across the meats.

It's a once in a time thing for most..unless of course you carry a little packet of lipitor around with you. Which, I think explains where part of the turducken fuss comes from, as it's almost guaranteed to have no dry meat and, in turn, taste fantastic.

Now a big slice on fresh sourdough bread, with a smidgen of mango chutney. That might get me back in the turducken game!

[ybnormal]

My brother-in-law ordered a turducken from the same place (Greisser Spoon). They delivered it to his home 5 days in advance. About a 7 Kg bird with the Italian sausage/bread stuffing. They cooked it low and slow - 12 hours at 200F (which meant he got up at 5:00 AM!). He also purchased the gravy from them.

Pretty cool looking bird! It didn't look very big, but it packed a lot of meat/stuffing in it. There were 9 adults and 8 kids, but it could have easily fed twice that many.

Everyone really liked it. Warning for little kids - the stuffing is a bit spicy because of the Italian sausage. Meat is very moist and tasty. I actually appreciated the fat! Contrary to popular belief, no need for the lipitor (cut down on your sugar and process food intake - buts that another debate!)

Definitely have a good carving knife to cut though, as it does fall apart.

Its something I wouldn't do all the time, but we definitely appreciate experiencing it.

[Dr. J]

South African Meat Shop on Kensington Rd has been advertising Turducken. Not sure when their deadline is.

[cleopatra999]

Thanks everybody I will check into all these leads tomorrow. Canmore is definitely NOT out of the question as we are going to be heading skiing.

[odee]

Had a turducken from Valbella meats in Canmore at Thanksgiving. Maybe Valbella can ship it to Sunterra in Edmonton.

http://www.valbellagourmetfoods.ca/_d...

[alau2]

The Bon Ton Meat Market in Calgary does them. Can call to see if they're still taking orders.
10 Uxbridge Drive Northwest
Calgary, AB T2N 2V2
[phone]

Most of the other butchers that do them seem to be in Canmore.

[Heather2]

http://www.griesserspoon.com/turducke... This is were we order our first turducken. Second one we made ourselves. Both were great. Second one better,

[maplesugar]

+1 for Griesser Spoon/Railway Deli, we've ordered twice now, both times a total success

[cleopatra999]

this is looking like where we will be ordering from. They have a 4kg (1/2 size) which is perfect for us.

apparently Andy's IGA has them too in Eton, checking with the meat manager tomorrow.