When company comes unannounced and there is a large crowd to feed quickly, it is a big help to have a way to take care of the situation.
I like to run down to my favorite grocer and get a nice fresh turkey. The one in the picture is about thirteen pounds and is just right to Texas Fry in my cooker. All you have to do is wash the turkey inside and out and dry it well to remove as much moisture from the bird as possible. Remember to take that funny little packet out of the bird before washing.
Nadiene usually gives the bird a good rub on the outside with fresh garlic juice and pepper and then injects it with marinade and her big marinade needle. The marinade is a available in all kinds of flavors and it makes the bird extra tasty and tender. Make sure the wings are opened up so the oil can flow under them and not leave an uncooked spot on the bottom of the breast meat.
Then it is a matter of getting the peanut oil up to a boil and lowering the bird into the kettle for a thirty five minute cooking or about 3 minutes a pound. Use a meat thermometer to check the bird is done by inserting it into the back of the breast meat.
After removing the turkey from the cooker, let it cool down and cut it into serviing size pieces right on the stand. This is a delicious way to do turkey, chicken, cornish hens and ducks. There is no grease and the skin is absolutely the most delicious you have ever tasted.
The day we did this bird, it was about thirty degrees outside, but the acoustically perfect barn was around fifty degrees. I have cooked turkeys this way in the barn at twenty five below zero, which might be an Olympic and World record .To pass the time while the bird was cooking, I played our friend, Diane Barnes and Nadiene Turkey in the Straw and another tune or two on the Low G.
Oh, I forgot, the marinade was Lawry’s Tequila lime and Nadiene used a whole bottle on the turkey. I was a bit afraid it might explode when I dropped it into the cooker, but everything came out all right.
So remember, another place you can play your whistle is while you Texas Fry your turkey!