Some of you may already know of my love for Turducken. Someday, I plan to make one from scratch, which involves deboning three birds (and that's just to start), but until I have the kitchen space to do this, I'm going to stick with getting pre-prepared Turduckens when the craving strikes. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to try a Turducken -- you can read about that adventure here. This year, I was fortunate enough to be offered yet another Turducken opportunity from the folks at Echelon Foods.

Thawed and ready to roast

I learned a few things from my prior Turducken experience: first, a full-on Turducken barely fit into the largest roasting pan my scaled-down NYC apartment oven cold handle. Also, said NYC apartment is not large enough to fit enough people to eat an entire Turducken.  So this time, I chose wisely. In addition to their full-size Turduckens, Echelon offers when they call a Turducken Premium Roast: "De-boned duck and chicken breasts are wrapped up with sausage stuffing into a whole turkey, also deboned. In this case: the turkey's wings and drumsticks are removed, and it is then formed into a football-sized roast." The roast serves 8-10 (still too many for a sit-down dinner in my apartment, frankly) and comes with two stuffing options: Italian, or chicken-apple sausage. I opted for the latter (surprise!).

Before

After

It arrived frozen, and following the directions on the website, I defrosted it in the refrigerator for 4 days and cooked it with their high temperature method -- set atop a roasting rack, with a mix of white wine and water in the roasting pan, at 350 degrees, basting occasionally, until it reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees. The end result was a beautifully bronzed roast, with enough drippings to make gravy.

Upon carving, the meat was tender and moist, the chicken apple sausage lending a hint of sweetness to the mix, and impressive looking to boot. The roast was a wise choice; no challenges regarding oven or roasting pan space and plenty of food for 10 people (assuming you serve it with sides). If you're looking for something a little out of the ordinary to jazz up your holiday season (or to mix it up at next year's Thanksgiving), I'd suggest giving it a try. Don't tell your guests how simple it is to prepare -- that'll be our little secret.