Slow-Roasted Wild Turkey
(Use a store-bought bird if you must)

Ingredients:
1 wild turkey or store-bought bird.

Preparation:
With the skin on, baste the whole turkey with your favorite smear-on seasoning. Season bird generously inside and out with liquid smoke and favorite seasoning. A favorite includes a lot of garlic and oregano and some bay sage. Place in a roaster with one cup of liquid and cover with lid that seals tightly. Preheat oven to 500 degrees and roast turkey one hour. Turn off the oven. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR for 8 to 10 hours, that’s the trick to tenderness! Make gravy with drippings and giblets or freeze for soup stock or gumbo. You might try stuffing your bird with your favorite cornbread stuffin’ also.

Cook dark and boney pieces, wings, thighs and drumsticks in a Dutch oven or Crock Pot. Add bay leaves, chopped onion and seasonings or favorite seasonings as above. Cook on “low” heat all day or all night (8 to 10 hours). Remove bones and use chopped meat for soup stock or gumbo.

Historical Note:

I got this old recipe (or method) from Ron Barham. He comes from a long line of rural folks raised in the back woods of the southeastern U.S. He is a life-long, turkey huntin’, Mississippian who can call up any wily gobbler with a turkey call he carved himself. He is also an experienced camp cook. He says, “wild turkey is more tender and tastes richer than store bought, if you fix them like this.”

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