Discuss

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Ask anyone who knows me and they will likely tell you that I am something of a traditionalist. I set a formal table for holiday meals (complete with fresh flowers and dessert spoons), I write thank you notes on stationary (not a keyboard), and I always let a man carve the roast.

However, when it comes to Thanksgiving turkey, I eschew the roast birds of traditions past. Instead, I want it cooked outside in a grill or deep-fryer and most importantly I want it spicy!

My in-laws introduced me to the joys of deep-fried turkey years ago (before everyone had a set-up from Dick’s Sporting Goods in their garage). We were cooking dinner together deep in the heart of Louisiana’s Cajun country. One fellow in the ‘hood had built himself a turkey fryer out of an old stockpot and a gas stove burner.  Then he offered to fry everyone’s bird.  His fee? A pitcher of Cajun eggnog.  (I’m not kidding—spicy eggnog, semi-frozen laced with plenty of booze.)

Once lubricated, the fry master doused the first turkey with plenty of Cajun-chile spice (he preferred Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning). Here’s the secret: The first turkey in the fryer comes out relatively mild. However, we fried 6 or 7 turkeys that day—and each one got successively spicier.  The last bird out of the oil was far and away my favorite—crisp, intensely golden skin, moist meat and plenty of chile heat through and through.

If you’ve never had a turkey riddled with chile you need to get cooking. Spice transforms the bland meat into something memorable.

This year we’re cooking our turkeys in the Chicago burbs. We’ll fry one bird for sure but the dry seasoning will have a Mexican slant with bit of chipotle.  We’ll also do Rick’s beer- and-chile-brined and grilled turkey. You can bet I’ll be making plenty of the spicy red chile adobo instead of traditional gravy.

So as the biggest food holiday of the year approaches, let’s talk turkey—from roasted to fried and grilled. From gravy to mole—and from chipotle mashed potatoes to cranberries—let’s get this party started.

JeanMarie Brownson
Culinary Director, Frontera Foods