Best part of turkey is the enchiladas

Turkey Day has come and gone and the dogs have dragged the carcass onto the lawn. The last bone I did pick. If I cooked it properly, no one will get sick.

As I told readers last week, I was put in charge of the turkey this Thanksgiving. I went with the smoker as my method.

There’s a real love-hate relationship between most folks and turkey. It’s really intimidating to prepare one and easy to mess up. When it gets right down to it very few folks go back for seconds of the bird. What do we expect when we only prepare turkey once or twice a year? That makes us all rookies and rookies mess up the main course pretty often.

I’m not sure how or why turkey got elevated to icon status on Thanksgiving. I’m pretty sure the venison or the seafood was probably ahead of turkey as the favored protein at the first Thanksgiving.

Maybe Norman Rockwell is to blame with that cheesy family painting with Grandma serving the bird to an expectant family. I’m not so sure turkey was that important to the Thanksgiving table before that Saturday Evening Post feature.

I’ve got to admit, the first few times I cooked a turkey I was uneasy and a bit lost. It was before the days of Google and Youtube where you can learn to cook anything these days. All we had then were cookbooks and the Butterball hotline.

The worst part about cooking my first turkey was that we had most of the rest of the meal to prepare as well. Organizing how you’re going to pull all that off with timing and hot gravy and rolls is daunting.

The most crucial part of the whole process, if you’re not shooting your own bird, is getting the darn thing in the refrigerator early enough to get it defrosted in time. Most of the birds sold at the supermarket are frozen and it takes a long time to thaw a 15-20-pound turkey. If you don’t plan it a week out you’re going to mess up the first part of that timing.

I’ve also made the mistake of not getting all the hidden prizes they leave inside the turkey you buy at the supermarket. I baked those giblets inside that little paper bag once.

I’ve baked them in an oven, I’ve done them in a browning bag and I’ve participated in a group activity where we’ve fried a few gobblers. I’ve now smoked a couple of turkeys on my pellet smoker and I believe it’s my favorite way. It seems like putting a whole turkey, known for being dry, over a low smoky source of heat would be a recipe for disaster. It comes out really juicy and full of smoky flavor, though. It was especially good while I was carving and boning out the meat. I got enough there that my seconds were pretty small at dinner.

The best thing about turkey as far as I’m concerned is making turkey enchiladas with the leftovers. Now that’s a real feast.

Karl Terry writes for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at:

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