Thanksgiving Wild Turkey from 'The Wild Chef

Ingredients

• 375 g caul fat salted minced sliced
• 4 cups bread diced toasted (8 oz/250 g)
• 3 ribs celery minced
• 1 cup chicken stock see (8 fl oz/250 ml)
• 6 servings pepper black freshly ground
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 8 sprigs flat parsley italian minced
• 2 sprigs rosemary minced
• 6 sprigs sage minced
• 1  turkey wild (5.5-6.5 kg)
• 1  onion yellow minced

Equipment

• frying pan
• paper towels
• oven
• knife
• roasting pan
• kitchen thermometer

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Render half of the minced fatback slowly in a heavy-bottom sauté pan. Reserve and keep warm.
2. Dry the turkey very well with paper towels. Using a brush, coat the exterior with some of the warm minced fatback and season well with salt and pepper inside and out.
3. Heat up the remaining minced fatback on medium.
4. Add the onion and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add the celery and cook for 5 minutes more.
5. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
6. Remove from the heat and add the toasted bread. Moisten with stock and add the minced herbs. Taste the bread cubes and add more broth and herbs as needed—they should be moist and tasty. Gently fill the cavity of the turkey with this mixture, and cover the breast with the remaining slices of fatback.
7. Place the turkey, breast side up, in a heavy roasting pan and put it in the oven. Roast for 1 hour.
8. Remove the fatback, raise the oven temperature to 375°F (190°C), and continue roasting for 1 hour to brown the breast.
9. Remove the turkey as soon as it registers 160°F (71°C) on an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, away from the bone.
10. Let the turkey rest for at least 20–30 minutes before carving it across the grain with a sharp knife.