Picture this, you have just breasted out your spring tom and you are ready to throw out that carcass, but wait!  Not so fast, grab the rest of the meat on the carcass, sure the drumsticks might better suited for chicken feed but those other bits, grab those and hang onto them for your next big game tailgate.

These are simple, don’t grind those bits right away, save them until you are ready to make these.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb wild turkey (or ground turkey from the dreaded store)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp parsley
  • 1 clove garlic (pressed)
  • 1 egg beaten
  • 2 tbsp Frank’s Red Hot Wing Sauce (or your favorite), plus extra for coating
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/4 tsp dill weed
  • 1/8 tsp thyme leaves
  • 1/4 c almond flower

Directions

  1. Preheat the over to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. If you working with previously ground meat, obviously you will not need to grind the meats, just skip the grinding.  Combine all ingredients but the almond flower and mix thoroughly, if using unground meat – grind it through a fine plate twice.
  3. Once the ground meat is combined thoroughly mix in the almond flour.
  4. Using your hands form ~1 ounce meatballs placing them on the previously lined baking sheet.
  5. Bake for 10 minutes and then turn the broiler on high for a minute or so until the meatballs brown up.
  6. Toss with additional wing sauce to coat and serve hot

And there you have it, stop throwing away all that goodness and enjoy.

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Sometimes I wonder if we take the time to consider the cost of what we are eating, I mean for a lot of people go to the grocery store, pick out their food and run.  If you do take the time to consider the cost you probably focus on getting a good deal or think that you are doing well to support the employees of the store and the people who took a part in getting the food to the store.  However there are some people who do not have any idea where their food came from or that it was once living.  Well the turkey we smoked, I know was once living, in the wild and was shot by a friend of mine during turkey season here in Michigan.

So with all that in mind, it was my goal to cook up one heck of a turkey and not let the story of this bird end with a bad plate of turkey.  With the exception of the legs it turned out great, it was unlike any turkey I have ever eaten before.  Each bite was a bit different than the last and all of them were pretty incredible.

I used the same brine as I had used when I smoked my turkey breast for our Thanksgiving potluck and brined it overnight in a 5 gallon bucket overnight in the garage, it was colder than the fridge.  We were forced to remove its legs to fit it into the brining bucket and the smoker.  This morning after a hasty breakfast of eggs, bacon and sausage we pulled the turkey out of the brine, brushed it with cajun butter and rubbed it with cajun spice.

We then loaded the smoker and set it up to smoke over hickory and apple wood and smoked it for 6 hours, basting with apple juice and white wine about every half hour.  After a days work and about 30 games of Halo, the turkey was done and resting on the counter covered by a thick blanket.  After allowing the juices to redistribute, we began to carve and eat.  It was worth the effort.

Carved smoked wild turkey

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