Food Stuffed with Stuffed Food

       Source: http://z.about.com/d/homecooking

Kinger's post about chicken stuffed with pork filled buns sent me into a deep meditation on the subject of stuffed foods. From the humble shui jiao to the noble poulet cordon bleu, we are all drawn to the idea of eating food that is stuffed with other food. Why is it that the very mention of stuffed food gets the salivary glands flowing?  Is it the combination of flavour sensations that stuffed foods produce--the sealing in of juices, the explosion of flavour? Or is it more a matter of the luxury of consuming a dish that takes an inordinate amount of time to prepare--Mama loves her little bambino! she spent all day making ravioli just for him!! Perhaps though, the true explanation for our love of stuffed foods can be found in the deeper and murkier realm of Jungian psychology. Is it not possible that our enjoyment of a won ton or a pirogi subconsciously brings us back to the warmth and safety of our mother's womb? Or conversely, does meat inserted into a supple envelope not somehow recall the primal and life-giving act of coitus?

Whatever the reason, our purpose here at the Donkey is not to confound you with the intractable mysteries of life, but rather to lull you into a mindless stupor with descriptions of mouth-watering delights. So to consider the love we all share for stuffed foods, surely we can multiply that love by stuffing food with food that is itself stuffed with other food. Can you wrap your mind around a concept as profound as this? Of course we need not stop at two stages of stuffing. We can keep stuffing the stuffing to the power of ten, or a hundred, or a thousand, until we reach the subatomic level of inserting some mash of quarks into a light crust of electrons. For as with the iconic Ukrainian wooden doll--that contains another doll, that contains another doll, ad infinitum--what we are approaching is a model of eternity. You may recall the madman in the classic Dracula, who captures flies to feed to a spider, which he in turn feeds to a bird, which he then wishes to feed to a cat. Was he really so mad?... Now we are beginning to think on the same level.

And this is where I find foul with Kinger's chicken recipe. Why cut up the pork buns? Does this not defeat the purpose? Shouldn't the buns be inserted whole into the ass of the chicken? In response to this perceived error, I have compiled several recipes that focus on the glorious act of stuffing food with unmolested items of stuffed food.


The first recipe is a traditional English Christmas roast of foul. It involves stuffing a chicken into a duck, which is then stuffed into a turkey. This dish is refered to by some as ballotine and by others as turducken. In truth, I find neither name fitting, as the word ballotine refers to a stuffed and rolled piece of meat, while the word turducken leaves nothing to the imagination.

Here's the recipe from Peggy's Home Cooking Blog ... Thanks Peggy!

 

Turducken

Prep Time: 1:

Cook Time: 4:

Ingredients:

• 2-3/4 cups prepared savory bread stuffing, at room temperature, divided use
• 2 cups prepared cornbread stuffing, at room temperature, divided use
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
• 1 (10 to 12-pound) turkey, deboned
• 1 (4 to 5-pound) duck, deboned
• 1 (3 to 4 pound) chicken, deboned
• 4 Tablespoons butter
• 3 cloves garlic, cut in quarters
• 6 fresh sage leaves
• 2 Tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
• 1 Tablespoon browning sauce (such as Gravy Master® or Kitchen Bouquet®)
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Have the turkey, duck, and chicken already deboned (save the bones for stock) before you begin to assemble the turducken. Keep all of the poultry refrigerated until you are ready to use it. Do not assemble turducken until you are ready to bake it in order to avoid foodborne illness from contaminated stuffing.

Measure out 2-1/4 cups of bread stuffing and set aside. Place remaining 1/2 cup of bread stuffing in another bowl and add 1/2 cup of the cornbread stuffing along with the whole berry cranberry sauce and pecans. Toss gently to combine. Place remaining 1-1/2 cups cornbread stuffing aside. You should have 3 separate stuffings.

In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, combine butter, garlic, sage, and thyme until herbs are finely chopped.

Run your hand under the skin to separate and make a pocket, but do not separate skin completely from the meat. Distribute the butter herb mixture evenly under the skin.

Rub the skin of the turkey with the browning sauce (promotes even browning but doesn't add flavor), then the olive oil. Sprinkle generously with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

Flip the turkey over so it is open and skin-side down. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 300 F.

Spread bread stuffing evenly over turkey cavity. Place duck on top of bread stuffing, skin-side down.

Spread cranberry nut stuffing on top of open duck cavity. Top with chicken, skin-side down.

Spread cornbread stuffing on top of open chicken cavity. Skewer the back of the chicken closed. Bring up the sides of the duck to cover the chicken. Skewer the back of the duck closed. Repeat process with the turkey. Carefully turn the turducken over, so it is seam-side down and breast-side up. Remove all skewers except the last one holding the turkey together.

Place turducken in a heavy roaster. Roast 3 to 4 hours, until meat thermometer inserted in the very center of the chicken stuffing reaches 165 F. Baste once per hour with pan juices. If turducken begins to get too brown, tent loosely with heavy-duty aluminum foil that has been coated with vegetable spray.

Let turducken rest 30 minutes before carving. To serve, slice turducken across the breast to show off each layer.

Yield: 12 to 14 servings



Yes, let the turducken rest, its been through a rough time.

I know, I hear you out there saying 'this is good and all, but turkey, chicken and duck are so...pedestrian. Don't you have anything a little more exotic to offer?' Fear not, dear reader. The best is yet to come.

The following recipe is from Anonimo Toscano's, Libro della Cocina, written sometime between the late 14th century to the early 15th century. It's been reprinted from Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site.

Stuffed Peacock.
Skin the peacock, keeping the head with its feathers: then take pork meat that's not too fatty, and also the ground meat of said peacock or another one, and mince and grind them together. Also grind spices, cinnamon and nutmeg, whatever you want; once these have been well ground and beaten with egg whites, mix them together, and beat said spices and meat together thoroughly, and keep the yolk on its own. Then stuff said peacock with said minced and ground meat and the aforementioned spices: and wrap said peacock in pork caul fat, and close it with a wooden pick: and thus put it in a cauldron in lukewarm water, and boil it gently. And when it has been boiled solid [i.e., the mincemeat stuffing is fully cooked], roast it on a spit or on the grill, and color it with beaten egg yolks, which you have kept aside; and don't take all of them, but make apples out of the rest of them, as follows, that is: take raw pork loin and mince it very finely with a knife and chop it thoroughly; then mix said meat with said reserved egg yolks and aforementioned spices, and make it so thick that you can make little apples in the palms of your hands; and roll then in egg yolks and color them and set them to boil in water. Once they have boiled a little you can roast them and color them slightly with egg yolks, using feathers. Some of these apples you can put inside the peacock, and on the outside, under said caul fat. And once this is done, re-clothe the peacock in its coat, skin and feathers reserved, and carry it to the table; and, with the coat taken off, serve it.


I know...now you're saying that the peacock is not stuffed with any other stuffed item, but rather with run-of-the-mill meatballs, what fraud is this? I agree dear reader. I am on your side. That is why I suggest substituting the original ingredient of meatballs with the pre-stuffed ingredient of beef ravioli. A fine variety of this food-stuff can be procured from Chef Boyardee or from your local Italian grocer.

Next we have a recipe from International Cuisine presented by the California Home Economics Teachers, 1983.

Stuffed Camel

1 whole camel, medium size
1 whole lamb, large size
20 whole chickens, medium size
60 eggs
12 kilos rice
2 kilos pine nuts
2 kilos almonds
1 kilo pistachio nuts
110 gallons water
5 pounds black pepper
Salt to taste

Skin, trim and clean camel, lamb and chicken. Boil until tender. Cook rice until fluffy. Fry nuts until brown and mix with rice. Hard boil eggs and peel. Stuff cooked chickens with hard boiled eggs and rice. Stuff the cooked lamb with stuffed chickens. Add more rice. Stuff the camel with the stuffed lamb and add rest of rice. Broil over large charcoal pit until brown. Spread any remaining rice on large tray and place camel on top of rice. Decorate with boiled eggs and nuts. Serves friendly crowd of 80-100.

Shararazod Eboli, Home Economist, Dammam, Saudi Arabia


Now we're getting somewhere. But how about this. Let's shove the camel up the ass of an elephant. Then let's sew the elephant into the belly of a whale. We'll lower the whole things into an active volcano to make sure it's extra crispy. Then, in a great act of magnanimous charity, we'll tow our creation across the ocean to feed some third-world country. Together, hand in hand, let's get our stuffing on!