6 Recipes for Those Other Turkey Parts
Posted 2022-04-08T07:05:00Z by
We've covered wild turkey breast meat, legs, and thighs, but what about those other edible parts to your wild turkey?
Everyone loves wild turkey breast, and more and more hunters each spring are discovering just how great the legs and thighs from their birds taste, but what about the other edible parts of a wild turkey?
If you are asking yourself what other parts? then read on. If you can eat it on a chicken, then you can eat it on a wild turkey. Parts like livers, gizzards, hearts, and wings all make excellent table fare. And once you have removed all those parts, you can use the bones to make some of the best-tasting stock you have ever cooked with.
Flip through the following recipes to see what all you can do with the rest of your bird this spring.
For this turkey heart recipe, we used Bourbon Barrel Foods' award-winning soy sauce along with another of its signature products, Hot and Spicy Kentuckyaki. Flavored with fresh garlic and ginger, sweetened with pure-cane Kentucky sorghum, the original Kentuckyaki includes red pepper to give this sauce some heat. We then grill the seasoned hearts and serve them up on avocado toast for an outstanding appetizer.
Break out your Weston Realtree slow cooker for this easy stock recipe. After cleaning our birds, we save the breast and back bones after the breast meat has been removed. We also save the drumstick section of the wings. Add the ingredients, cover with water, and turn the slow cooker to low. Let it do its thing for 12 to 24 hours, and you will end up with the most flavorful stock you have ever used — perfect for soups, stews, ramen, or any recipe requiring stock.
Turkey hearts are a particular favorite around here. Tender, meaty, and delicious, they can be grilled, fried, or sautéed. For this recipe, we slice the hearts top to bottom, marinate them, and then stuff them into a hollowed-out jalapeño pepper. For added flavor, we pipe the pepper full of herbed cream cheese and wrap it with a slice of Uncle John's Pride Realtree bacon before grilling.
At one time, liver pâté was all the rage, showing up on menus at fine-dining restaurants the world over. While it isn't as popular today, pâté is still a great way to use the iron- and nutrient-rich livers from your wild turkeys.
If you enjoy crunchy, salty fried chicken livers, you are missing out if you don't save the livers from your wild turkey. This is one of our favorite ways to prepare them. It's simple and quick, and it makes a great camp snack, meal, or appetizer.
If you're leaving your wild turkey wings in the woods or the trash can, you are wasting some really good eats. They may take a bit more work than the breast, legs, and thighs, but the payoff is well worth a few extra minutes. Wild turkey wings see a lot of action, which means heavy muscle and lots of connective tissue. A long, slow and moist cooking process like braising works well to break down and tenderize the wing. Beer braising on a smoker is perfect. Not only does it break down the connective tissue, but the smoke adds an extra layer of flavor.
Gear up for turkey season at the Realtree Store
