Pellet Smoked Cajun Butter Turkey
Holiday time is here again and your family is looking forward to your smoked turkey. And this year it’s time to give them a different flavor of buttery creole goodness. Now don’t worry, this is not spicy and grandma won’t need a tall glass of milk to cool down the burn. This recipe uses Tony Chachere’s cajun butter injection which has a very buttery flavor with a little bit of kick. If you haven’t tried this before, you should give it a taste before injecting so you know what you are working with. But that’s not all, we’re going to add a creole seasoning herb butter underneath and on top of the turkey skin! Just smoke it for a few hours at 250F then crank the heat to 375F to crisp up the skin. Take it off the smoker when the breast hits 165F, let it rest, then slice in and be amazed at how juicy this turkey is.
Man That’s Cooking
Ingredients
- 10 – 15 lb whole turkey
- 1 bottle Tony Chachere’s cajun butter injection
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 tsp fresh rosemary
- 1 tsp fresh sage
- 1 tsp fresh thyme
- 3 – 5 tbsp Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning
Directions
Thawing
Usually your turkey will be fully frozen and if so let it thaw out in the refrigerator for at least 48 hours.
Spatchcocking
When the turkey is thawed, remove it from the packaging and remove any giblets and pop up thermometers. Next, cut out the backbone using kitchen shears or a chef’s knife. Cut from the tail along the side of the backbone up to the neck. Repeat this step on the other side of the backbone and remove it completely. Following this, cut the breastbone in the center and now you can flatten out the turkey. This flattening of the bird is called spatchcocking and it will allow the breast and thigh meat to reach their finishing temperatures at the same time. And don’t throw way that backbone, it’s perfect for making gravy or turkey broth!
Injecting
For this recipe, we are using a bottle of Tony Chachere’s cajun butter injection. You may end up using only half the bottle per turkey so pour the injection into another container and do not stick your injection needle directly into the bottle. That will cross contaminate the injection liquid with raw turkey and besides that, it’s just easier to use a wider mouth container. Use your injection needle to pump the turkey up with all the injection liquid as possible. Inject the thighs, legs, wings and breasts and move the needle around to inject multiple points. Putting too much liquid in one area will create a pocket of injection, which is not a bad thing but will be noticeable.
Butter Rub
Use one stick of room temperature unsalted butter and mix with 1 tablespoon of Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning. Add about a teaspoon each of fresh chopped sage, thyme, and rosemary then mix everything together. Next use a small silicone spatula to separate the skin from the meat starting at the neck area and working around to the thighs. Next you can put some seasoned butter on the spatula and work it down underneath the skin. Use your fingers above the skin to spread the butter around. If you are careful you can separate the skin from the thigh meat and get some seasoned butter there as well.
Seasoning
Flip the turkey over and use Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning to coat the inside of the turkey. You can be heavy handed with the seasoning if you like, this is a big piece of meat! Flip the turkey back over and season the skin side. Next rub on the remaining seasoned butter then add the remaining herbs. Add one light coat of creole seasoning for good looks and flavor.
Smoking
Turkey can be smoked at temperatures ranging from 225F up to 325F. However there are some food safety concerns when smoking a turkey larger than 15 pounds at 250F or less. For this recipe we recommend using a turkey less than 15 pounds and smoking at 250F using a wood such as apple, pecan or hickory. Your total cook time will vary depending on the total weight of the turkey and cooking temperature. A 14 pound turkey would take around 4 hours more or less of cook time. The problem with a smoke temperature lower than 300F will be rubbery skin or at least skin that is not crisp and possibly chewy. To help fix this, you will need to crank up the heat of your smoker to 375F when the breast reaches an internal temp of 150 – 155F. Let the turkey continue to cook and when the turkey reaches around 165F in the breast and 175F in the thigh, remove it from the smoker and let it rest uncovered. If you cover the turkey for too long, the steam will work against you and moisten the skin. Just let it rest 15 minutes to allow carryover cooking to do it’s job and work the juices around. After resting, carve into that turkey and be ready to deal with a cutting board full of juices!
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Buttery Stuffing
Buttery Stuffing
Every holiday meal needs a good homemade stuffing. Of course this takes more effort than making instant stovetop stuffing, but the flavor and texture is so much better. This recipe is based on typical classic stuffing recipes but we added more butter for a fluffy croissant taste. Of course you could modify this recipe as you like to match your taste. If you are short on time, you can do all the chopping and dicing a day ahead of time. You can also dry out the bread a day before and store it in large zip seal bags. When it’s time to cook the stuffing mixture, keep in mind you will need at least 1.5 hours baking time. You can get this done early on the holiday and just warm it up when your main dish is ready. One thing is certain, once you make home made stuffing, this will be a repeat dish every year!
Man That’s Cooking
Ingredients
- 1 lb sourdough bread
- 4 celery stalks
- 1 yellow onion (medium)
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 1 tsp fresh sage
- 1 tsp fresh thyme
- 1 tsp fresh rosemary
- ½ cup fresh parsley
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups (or 14.5 oz can) chicken broth
Directions
First, preheat the oven to 250F. Next use a bread knife and cut the bread into ½ inch slices. Cut each slice into 3 – 4 strips roughly ½ inch wide. Finally, stack the 3 strips together and slice out ½ inch cubes. Spread the cubes flat on several cookie sheets without stacking any bread on top of eachother. Place the cookie sheets in the oven for 20 minutes then remove them and check the bread cubes for any moisture. All cubes should be solid and not squishy. If any are squishy, continue to bake them for another 20 minutes. Repeat this until all bread cubes are solid, then remove the bread and increase the oven temperature to 350F.
While the bread is baking, chop the onion, celery and herbs. Set aside unchopped parsley for a final topping. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook for 8 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and herbs then cook for 1 minute more then remove the skillet from the heat.
Transfer the bread cubes to a large bowl. Pour about ⅓ of the melted butter onion mixture over the bread and toss to coat evenly. Pour another ⅓ and mix again. Repeat once more with the remaining butter mixture.
In a medium bowl, mix together the eggs and chicken broth. Pour ⅓ of the mixture over the bread and toss again to coat evenly. Repeat twice more then transfer the bread to a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Cover with foil and bake at 350F for 45 minutes. Uncover and stir the stuffing. Cook uncovered for another 20 minutes then stir the stuffing again checking for moisture and brown coloring on the bread. The bread should be brown and partially moist but not soaked and uncolored. Repeat this 20 minute cook several times if needed. When the bread reaches your desired doneness, rest for 5 minutes then top with the parsley that was set aside.
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Pellet Smoked Chicken Breasts
Pellet Smoked Chicken Breasts
Chicken breasts on a pellet smoker are always a delicious meal. But you should avoid the boneless skinless breasts because they are lean meat and that usually dries out on the smoker. Go for the bone in skin on chicken breasts which usually cost less than the boneless skinless type. The rib bones help protect the meat from the heat and the fat in the skin keeps the lean breast meat from drying out. If you have time to do an overnight brine, the meat will be even juicer and more flavorful. Smoking chicken under 300F usually results in a rubbery skin texture and to avoid that you can cook the final stages under high heat or over a flame. For this recipe, were going to smoke the chicken breasts at 235F for roughly 2 hours until they reach about 158F. Then they get transferred to to a grill and placed skin side down with the lid open. This will tighten up the skin and give it a nice flame kissed flavor.
Man That’s Cooking
Ingredients
- 2 – 4 chicken breasts bone in skin on
- 2 tbsp BBQ rub
Brine
- 1 gallon water
- 1/2 cup kosher salt
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 lemon
Directions
Boil 1 gallon of water along with all of the listed brine ingredients. Allow the brine to boil for a few minutes then turn off the heat. Remove the pot from the burner and allow the liquid to cool for 1 hour. You can add ice in a large zip seal bag to speed up the cooling process but do not add ice directly to the brine because this will dilute the solution. When the liquid reaches a medium warm temperature, add it to an 8 quart container and place it in the refrigerator for several hours.
When the brine reaches refrigerator temperature (around 32F) then add the chicken breasts to the brine. Place the brine back in the refrigerator overnight or at least 12 hours.
After the brine phase, wash off the chicken breasts then place them on a sheet pan with a cooling rack. Pat the chicken down with paper towels to absorb as much liquid as possible. It is important to dry off the skin as much as possible to prevent rubbery skin texture. If you have time, place the chicken back in the refrigerator overnight and this will circulate air around them which dries off the skin.
When you are ready to cook, preheat your smoker to 235 using pecan wood pellets. Place the chicken breasts on an upper rack in your smoker and let them cook for around 2 hours or until they reach a internal temperature of 158F.
Transfer the chicken breasts to a preheated grill and place them skin side down. If you are using a gas grill, set the burner on medium. Keep the lid open and watch out for any flare ups as the chicken fat melts into the flame. Cook until the skin reaches your desired doneness, then flip and cook on the rib bone side. Cook until the internal temperature reaches 165F.
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Eggplant Mozzarella
Eggplant Mozzarella
Eggplant mozzarella is a lower fat and quicker recipe than typical eggplant parmesan. This recipe also includes other veggies that you would not find in classic eggplant parmesan recipes. Now of course you will need to spend at least an hour salting the eggplant to get the bitter liquid out. Add the chopping and baking steps and you might need to save this recipe for the weekend. But overall this is pretty easy to put together and it is just amazingly delicious!
Man That’s Cooking
Ingredients
- 2 eggplants
- 1 yellow onion
- 8 oz baby bella mushrooms
- 14 oz can whole artichoke hearts
- 1 clove garlic
- 1tsp basil
- 8 oz low fat mozzarella cheese
- 3 oz parmesan cheese
- 24 oz marinara sauce
- 1/2 tbs Italian seasoning
Directions
Cut the ends off the eggplant then slice the eggplant lengthwise in ¼ inch slices. Set aside any odd shaped slices or leftover bits to use later. Salt the eggplant on one side and let it rest for 30 minutes. Pat the eggplant slices dry then flip them over and salt the other side. Let it rest for 30 minutes and pat the eggplant dry.
Drain the artichokes and let them dry on paper towels. If you purchased whole artichoke hearts, you can squeeze the liquid out of each by hand. Dice the onion and mushrooms. Dice the artichokes when dry. Roughly chop any leftover eggplant bits and misfit slices.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place aluminum foil on 2 baking sheets then spray them with cooking grease. Add one layer of eggplant on the sheets. Brush them on both sides with olive oil. Apply salt, pepper and oregano on both sides. Bake for 20 minutes on the middle rack.
Cook the chopped eggplant bits, mushroom, onion, and artichoke mixture in a frying pan at a medium heat for 10 minutes or until the onions become translucent.
Cover the bottom of a 9 x 13 cooking dish with marinara sauce. Add a layer of eggplant, then spoon in a layer of the onion mushroom artichoke mixture. Spoon on a layer of marinara sauce, then a layer of mozzarella. Repeat these layers until you use up the ingredients. For the top layer use eggplant covered lightly with marinara then mozzarella.
Seal the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes at 400F. Next, remove the foil then top with grated Parmesan and Italian herbs. Turn the broiler on high then place the dish uncovered in the oven for 3 – 5 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on the brown color of the cheese and do not allow it to overcook. Remove from the oven and allow it to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
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