*This post is sponsored by Turkey Farmers of Canada and ThinkTurkey.ca
When I was growing up our Thanksgiving Turkey recipe was always the same. Mom would wrap sausages around the turkey and roast it with summer savory, and a few other herbs. Mom’s turkey was always delicious, but I think it’s time to update it a little.
As you guys all know I’ve partnered with Turkey Farmers of Canada and ThinkTurkey.ca to come up with some different ways to showcase turkey. Most recently I did the Hot & Sour Turkey Wing Soup, and before that, it was Chipotle Lime Turkey Tacos. Well, they asked me to come up with a cool twist on the traditional Thanksgiving Turkey that we all know and love. Always the overachiever, I came up with four turkey recipes!
Today I’m going to share with you, not one, not two, not even three, but four very unique and all delicious whole turkey recipes. You can use these to not only to jazz up your Thanksgiving but also your everyday meals.
I am so excited to share these with you. Let’s take a look.
The Perky Turkey
The first out of the four turkey recipes I came up with is The Perky Turkey.
What a lot of people don’t know about turkey is that it is actually indigenous to the Americas. Because of this a lot of traditional Native American, Aztec and Mayan dishes use turkey. The most famous of these traditional turkey dishes is Mole. Mole (pronounced mole-ay) is a sauce made of chilies, chocolate, herbs, and spices. It is also the official dish of Mexico.
I wanted to honour traditional Mole without copying it exactly. So, what I’ve done instead is made a rub with finely ground coffee, cocoa, sugar, and spices. I rubbed that on the turkey and roasted it. Then, when the turkey comes out of the oven I squeeze the juice of one lime over it.
The exterior of the turkey gets this very pleasing and mysterious darkness to it. The flavour is slightly sweet and very earthy with a pop of freshness from the lime.
If you are looking for a turkey recipe that is unique and really delicious, this is the recipe you’ve been looking for.
Serving The Perkey Turkey
I suggest serving the Perk Turkey with either mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes, corn (preferably on the cob), green beans or brussels sprouts, and cranberry sauce.
Perky Turkey Leftovers
The leftovers from The Perky Turkey makes terrific tacos, burritos, or enchiladas. They are also great in turkey casserole with potato or sweet potato.
Ingredients
- 10-14 lb Turkey
Coffee & Chocolate Rub
- ¼ cup Fine Ground Coffee
- ¼ cup Cocoa
- 2 tbsp Cumin
- 1 tbsp Coriander
- 2 tbsp Oregano
- ½ tsp Cinnamon
- ½ tsp Chili Flakes
- 2 tsp Kosher Salt
- ½ tsp Ground Black Pepper
- ½ cup Brown Sugar
- ¼ cup White Sugar
- 2 tsp Smoked Paprika
- ¼ tsp Salt
- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
Instructions
Coffee & Chocolate Rub
- Combine all the ingredients for the Coffee & Chocolate Rub
- Rub the mixture evenly onto the surface of the turkey inside and out.
- Roast the turkey on 325°F for 20 minutes per pound or until the internal temperature reaches 170°F.
- Once the turkey is cooked through, remove from the oven, squeeze the juice of 1 lime over the turkey, cover loosely with foil and let rest for at least 20 minutes before slicing.
The Black Forest Turkey
The second of the four turkey recipes is The Black Forest Turkey. This turkey doesn’t really have the characteristic black exterior you might expect but the flavour is straight out of the Black Forest.
The Black Forest flavour is created by rubbing the turkey with a mixture of salt, sugar, spices, and hickory flavoured liquid smoke (can be bought online or at most specialty grocery stores). The turkey is put in the fridge to sit with this mixture for two days before being roasted.
Essentially, the salt and sugar are lightly curing the turkey which firms up the flesh a little bit. The result is a turkey with a texture that is slightly firm while still being juicy and flavourful.
Serving The Black Forest Turkey
The Black Forest Turkey can be served with all your regular thanksgiving accompaniments. However, I highly recommend serving it with roasted potatoes, carrots, brussels sprouts, bread and butter pickles, and Honey Dijon Mustard.
Black Forest Turkey Leftovers
The leftovers from the Black Forest Turkey are great for turkey soup or sandwiches. They also make great pasta dishes. I’ve actually made this, thinly sliced it and froze it in small portions to have as homemade sandwich meat.
Ingredients
- 2 tsp Liquid Smoke Hickory
- 18 Crushed Juniper Berries
- ¼ cup Kosher Salt
- ½ cup Brown Sugar
- 1 tbsp Ground Back Pepper
- 4 Bay Leaves
- 1 tbsp Ground Coriander
- 1 tbsp Marjoram
- 8 cloves Garlic Peeled and Crushed
- 10-14 lb Turkey
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients and mix well.
- Rub the mixture on the surface of the turkey and inside the turkey.
- Put the turkey on a rack set over a drip tray, or in a large mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 2 days.
- After the 1st day use a spoon to baste the turkey with any liquid that has accumulated in the bottom of the drip tray.
- Remove the turkey from the fridge and roast on 325°f for 20 minutes per pound or until the internal temperature of the turkey reaches 170°F.
- Once the turkey is cooked through, remove it from the oven and cover it loosely with foil.
- Let the turkey rest for at least 20 minutes before serving.
The Turkey Blanco
Not that long ago while researching something food-related I came across a recipe for White BBQ Sauce. This white BBQ Sauce is starting to take off in the US but hasn’t really arrived in Canada yet. Once I heard about it, I got to work on creating my own version. As soon as I started working on this turkey project I knew I wanted to use White BBQ Sauce.
What is White BBQ Sauce?
The easiest way to describe White BBQ sauce is to say that it is BBQ sauce made with a base of mayonnaise rather than ketchup. That’s really about it. Although that difference may seem fairly minor, the taste of white BBQ sauce is completely different than regular BBQ sauce and it works exceptionally well with turkey.
Serving The Turkey Blanco
There are two main ways that I recommend serving The Turkey Blanco. You can serve it just as you would your regular Thanksgiving Turkey with all the fixings. Or, you can serve it more Southern BBQ Style with cornbread, baked beans, braised collard greens, beet greens, or swiss chard, and mac and cheese. If you are going the Southern BBQ route I suggest making a little extra of the White BBQ Sauce to serve with the cooked turkey.
Turkey Blanco Leftovers
You can use the leftovers from The Turkey Blanco just like you would any other turkey leftovers. But, I do have to say that The Turkey Blanco leftovers make great soups, casseroles, and pot pies. They are also especially well suited to sandwiches.
Ingredients
- ½ cup Mayo
- ½ cup White Wine Vinegar or white distilled Vinegar
- 1 tbsp Honey Dijon Mustard
- 2 tbsp Horseradish
- 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
- 1 tbsp Onion Powder
- 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
- ½ tsp Cayenne Pepper
- 1 tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Pepper
Instructions
- Rub half the sauce on the turkey.
- Roast the turkey on 325°f for 20 minutes per pound.
- After the first hour of cooking baste the turkey with the remaining sauce and return it to the oven.
- Baste the turkey with the sauce every hour after.
- Cook the turkey until it reaches an internal temperature of 170°F.
- Once the turkey is cooked remove it from the oven, cover it loosely with foil, and let it rest at least 20 minutes before serving.
The Pumpkin Spiced Turkey
The fourth and final of the four turkey recipes that I came up with is the Pumpkin Spiced Turkey. Now, I know full well that you are probably pretty sick and tired of hearing about pumpkin spiced things. But I have to tell you that this turkey tastes like it is wrapped in a pumpkin pie in the very best way possible. Really, if I had to choose one of these four turkeys as my favourite, this would be it.
To get that pumpkin spiced flavour the turkey is first stuffed with a combination of butternut squash, brioche bread, onions, and spices. Then, while the turkey is roasting it is basted with a mixture of pumpkin purée, water, and spices.
To add even more pumpkin flavour make you can make a rub with the following ingredients and rub it on the turkey prior to roasting, then baste as the recipe indicates.
- 1 cup pumpkin purée
- ½ tsp Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Nutmeg
- ¼ tsp Ground Cloves
- 1 tsp Ground Ginger
- ½ cup Brown Sugar
- ½ cup Water
- ¼ tsp salt
Serving The Pumpkin Spiced Turkey
I suggest serving The Pumpkin Spiced turkey with all the traditional fixings including gravy. This turkey goes especially well with mashed potatoes, green beans, and cranberry sauce.
Pumpkin Spiced Turkey Leftovers
The leftovers from the Pumpkin Spiced Turkey make a terrific turkey and lentil soup, as well as stew, pot pie, casserole, and hot turkey sandwiches.
Ingredients
- 10-14 lb turkey
Stuffing Ingredients
- 1 cup sliced onion
- 2 cups peeled and cubed Butternut Squash
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tbsp cold butter
- 2 cups cubed Brioche
- 2-3 tbsp melted butter
Pumpkin Glaze Ingredients
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup pumpkin purée
- 1 cup of warm water
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- Mix the squash stuffing ingredients together and stuff inside the turkey.
- Combine the glaze ingredients in a medium pot and bring it to a boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Pat the Turkey Dry with Paper Towel and season with salt and pepper.
- Roast the turkey on 325°f for 20 minutes per pound or until a thermometer inserted into the thigh, the breast, and the wing reaches a temperature of 170°f.
- After the first hour of cooking, and every hour after that brush the turkey with the pumpkin glaze.
- Once the turkey is cooked through remove it from the oven, loosely cover with foil, and let rest at least 20 minutes before serving.
Conclusion
I sincerely hope that you try at least one of these recipes. What I hope for even more than that is that you take away from this that turkey can be so many things. It doesn’t just have to be the roast turkey that we all grew up with.
For the record, I know that I’m messing with tradition a bit here. I know that some of you reading this will want nothing more than to stick with the same turkey recipe you have used for every Thanksgiving. That’s fine and I completely understand. If you do fall into this group then maybe bookmark this and get a turkey at a different time of year. Come back and try one of these recipes then. I promise you will be happy that you did.
For everyone else, I can’t wait for you to try whichever of these four turkey recipes you choose to make.
Thank you for reading and thank you to Turkey Farmers of Canada and ThinkTurkey.ca where you can find even more great turkey recipes.
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