Serves: 16
Total Calories: 13
After bagging a wild turkey, I wet pick, clean, and freeze it whole with the giblets and neck tucked inside the carcass in a separate bag.
Since wild turkeys are built a little differently than the vacuum-packed, store-bought variety, it takes a little extra work to fit one in a Dutch oven. I separate the hindquarters from the rest of the turkey, and then split them down the backbone. At this point I take a fillet knife and disjoint each leg from the backbone, getting as much meat off the backbone as I can. I cook the leg in one piece, but you can disjoint at the thigh if you choose. To remove the ribs from the front half of the bird, cut along each side of the backbone and work your knife along the outside of the ribs down each side to where they attach to the breast bone and grasping the neck pull backward. Save the two back pieces.
After getting your bird cut up, put the giblets, neck, and back pieces to boil in a pot with 2 quarts water and season to taste. Dice up a medium onion and add to the broth. I like to add a couple of bay leaves and a pinch each of sage, oregano, and thyme. Wipe the turkey drumsticks and the breast with olive oil and season with cracked pepper or seasonings of your choice. I start 8-10 charcoal briquets in my Weber® grill. When they are ready, I scoot them to one side of the grill and place 2-3 chunks of mesquite wood on them. Once the mesquite starts smoking, I lay the breast and drumsticks on the opposite side of the grill. The intent is to flavor the meat and not cook it with direct heat. Let it smoke for no more than 15-20 minutes or it will dry out.
Transfer the turkey to a deep 14-inch Dutch oven with a rack in the bottom. Take 2 cups of the broth from the pot the giblets are boiling in for a cooking liquid. Roast for 1 1/2-2 hours with 6-8 briquets underneath the Dutch and 16-18 on the lid. Make dressing and gravy with the broth. Add dressing to the turkey pieces about 50 minutes before serving.
Spiced with More Tall Tales - Fish and Fowl
This Mesquite Roast Wild Turkey recipe is from the Cee Dub's Dutch Oven and Other Camp Cookin' Cookbook. Download this Cookbook today.
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