Chicken-Fried Wild Turkey with Pepper Mill Gravy
With turkey season here, I wanted to do a very simple wild-game play on one of my favorite dishes from my childhood.
I wanted to write something incorporating my earliest memories of cooking where it all began, growing up in Oklahoma. I grew up, like many of us did, with a grandmother that was the queen of the kitchen. I can still smell and taste my Grandma Earldine cooking up Friday night flattop griddle burgers with hand-cut fries or Mexican chicken casserole. And of course we always had plenty of homemade chocolate malts.
You could also count on nine times out of 10 that opening that front screen door you’d be hit with the smell of hot oil ready for something to fry. Chicken, catfish and this special dish were usually on the dinner list, and you know you’d be proudly leaving with that fry-oil smell deep in the fabric of the clothes you had on.
It’s funny how food has a way of transporting us in time with our senses. It’s like an old friend I’m constantly trying to run into and see again. It picks right up where you left off, never skipping a beat. A wave of comfort and rest settles over me when I find it. This recipe is everything that reminds me of home, of Oklahoma and especially Grandma Earldine’s kitchen.
This iconic dish uses a breaded cutlet of tenderized cube steak that is breaded and fried. This dish is one of Oklahoma's state foods, so I am transported back home when I’m lucky to enjoy it. The origins are unclear, but many think that German and Austrian immigrants introduced this dish into Texas in the 19th century as an adaptation of their wiener schnitzel. Now you can find it just about anywhere, especially in the south, as we love our breaded and fried foods.
With turkey season here, I wanted to do a very simple wild-game play on one of my favorite dishes from my childhood. I enjoy mine with plenty of pepper mill gravy, ketchup and tabasco sauce (don’t knock it ‘til you try it), served with big sides of mashed potatoes and greens. We all know that wild turkey is excellent fried, so give this recipe twist a try for you and your friends and family. Good luck to all the hunters out there this year! Enjoy!
Ingredients for Chicken Fried Turkey:
- 1 wild turkey breast halved and tenderized to 1/4” thickness
- 1 cup of milk
- 1 egg
- 1 cup flour
- Salt and pepper
- Vegetable oil, for frying
Ingredients for Pepper Mill Gravy:
- 3 Tbsp Butter
- 1/4 Cup of reserved frying oil
- 1/4 Cup of flour
- 1 Cup of milk plus 1/2 cup if more is needed for a runnier consistency
- Salt
- Plenty of fresh cracked pepper mill black pepper
Instructions
- Trim as much fat as you can from your turkey breast.
- Pat dry with a paper towel.
- Cut wild turkey in half in the middle making 2 separate breasts.
- Place turkey breasts in between 2 pieces of plastic wrap on a cutting board or hard surface.
- Using your meat tenderizer or rolling pin or anything that will get the job done, pound the meat. evenly until it reaches a thickness of 1/4”. It helps to start in the middle and work your way out.
- Heat your oil over medium-high heat to a level of 1/2” or 1” in a cast iron skillet or Dutch oven.
- Heat oil to around 300 degrees.
- In a large bowl, whisk together milk and egg. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Place turkey breasts, one at a time, in flour, then in the milk and egg mix, and then back in the flour mix.
- Fry each piece of turkey for about 8 minutes, flipping once, until dark golden brown, and it reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees.
- Place turkey in a 200-degree oven to keep warm.
For the Gravy:
- Remove oil from the pan and place the pan back on the burner to medium-high heat.
- Add butter, stirring constantly with a wire whisk, careful not to let the butter burn.
- Add oil and mix with butter.
- Slowly start adding your flour to the pan, continually mixing with a whisk for about 2-3 minutes, careful not to let the flour burn.
- Slowly start adding milk, mixing to remove any lumps in the flour.
- Lower heat and add three big pinches of salt and your fresh cracked pepper.
- If you think you’ve added too much pepper, you haven’t; add more. You’ll want a hefty pepper taste.
- Remove the turkey from the oven, cover it with gravy, and serve with your choice of sides.