TURKEY TAILS...
it might be the last thing over the fence, but...
it's the best bite on the bird.
they're so delicious and so easy to prepare, but extremely hard to find more than one at a time...
and that ONE is usually attached to your Thanksgiving bird.
back in Sept. '09 i posted about BBQ Turkey Tails... well, i'm still eatin' tails and i thought i'd share this easy way to prepare them without going out in the cold and lighting the grill. they're boiled, (or "braised" if ya want to get fancy) for a few hours while you're hanging around the house and roasted 'til they get plump, golden, sticky with glaze and absolutely unctuous !...i find this way they are even more succulent and delicious. they are addicting...really. i get all my friends and family to join the Turkey Tail Club. some just can't wrap their head around the idea. too bad, they aren't in the club! some people are amazed and some are on the fence...no pun intended. mostly it's just fun for me to watch the person, their reaction and see if they ask for another.
come on..you're a bit curious aren't you?...
i'm not kidding...if you can get a hold of some of these babies please try them. the conversation alone is worth the small effort...besides you'll end up with some delicious broth if all else fails.
and they're CHEAP!!!
TURKEY TAILS...Braised (boiled) and Roasted
WHERE TO FIND THESE LITTLE NUGGETS???
i'm lucky to have a store here in So. Cal called Gelson's that serves fresh roasted turkey everyday at the deli. they, for some odd reason, keep the tails and package them up and put them up for grabs in the poultry section, about 6 per package runs about $1.50...i'm always curious...who the heck knows about these tails? is there someone else out there that loves these things as much as i do?...if your market sells fresh roasted turkey, go ahead and ask what they do with the tails. maybe some lucky guy in the back gets the best bite everyday...maybe he'll share. otherwise, just ask your butcher where you might find some...if anything, both of you will get a good laugh out of it.
PREPARATION
short version...boil them in good flavorful stock for 3 hours, marinade for a few hours, then glaze and roast 'til sticky and golden brown.
more explicit directions...start these like you would any good stock or broth. i'm always making stock with a roasted chicken carcass from Costco so i throw it all into the pot with a quartered large onion, a few celery stalks, a couple of carrots, 4-5 smashed garlic cloves, bay leaf, Mexican oregano, fresh rosemary sprig, a dash of cayenne, a tsp of cumin and some fresh ground pepper. water to cover by an inch or 2...or better...throw in some homemade stock from the freezer or a can or 2 of store bought stock and water to cover.
NOTE...remember...your end product is not only the turkey tails but a delicious broth as well.
bring to a boil, then down to a slow simmer for about 3 hours. check your liquid level a few time to make sure they are covered.
after about 3 hours, remove the tails from the pot. strain your lovely broth and save for a rainy day.
NOTE...here's an odd thing. sometimes there is a little feather membrane piece that is protruding from the top of the tail. pull these out while they are warm...don't freak out. there not always there and if they are it's 1 or 2 at most.
let the tails cool. while cooling, smother them in your favorite marinade/glaze. the one i like best is by Soy-vay. the Hoisin Garlic Sauce, but any tasty marinade/glaze will do. you want them to rest and soak up the flavor. anywhere from 1-3 hours is fine...i leave my in the fridge sometimes over night.
preheat oven to 370 F
place tails on aluminum covered (easy clean up) cookie sheet or roasting pan. put in the oven and keep an eye on them. you'll need to turn them and glaze them to get good and sticky. time varies, but i have found about 30-40 minutes in total works well.
EATING A TURKEY TAIL
they not only look odd, but they ARE odd.
this is one of those "GO FOR IT" instances where you just have to take in a huge bite to get the whole unctuous effect. there's no nibbling here. you need to bite the whole side off one side of the tail bone. i wish i could demonstrate...it's kinda hard to explain.
another way to go is to remove each side off the bone with a knife, but still you must stick a whole side in your mouth...i promise you.
i'll stop now...geez, this is one of my longer posts. i just get so excited about the strangest things.
so...ask yourself...
are you willing to join "THE TURKEY TAIL CLUB" ??? !!!
30 comments:
I am feeling you! In my family we'd all fight over the chicken or turkey tails. Tail lovers, unite!
Oh my, I thought I was the only person who loved these! Whenever we roast a turkey I snaffle this bit. I wonder if I can persuade a butcher over here in the UK to sell them to me on their own!
OMG!!! I thought I was the only one who LOVED these. They are like heroin, I eat them alone...and am in yummy turkey tail bliss!!! TURKEY TAIL CLUB!
Dutchie...you made my day !!! I'm going to my secret turkey tail butcher tomorrow and buy all he's got. Sometimes I can get a dozen. YUM !!!
I was thrilled to discover that some one else loves these delicious little pieces of heaven! we are so lucky here in NZ, we can buy them in kilo bags.I have only ever roasted them, but now Im going to try your sticky recipie this weekend!!..many thanks!
hi JUNZ...guess who walked away with the Thanksgiving turkey tail ?...ME !!!..it wasn't nearly as good as mine is. it was roasted with the turkey, of course, and it didn't get cooked long enough (didn't stop me from gnawing on it though). do you cook them a long time?...falling off the bone? i hope you try this method i use and get some good sticky BBQ sauce or some Hoisin Glaze...yum!!!
Here in Hawaii turkey tails are nearly a staple. They are often sold in the supermarkets in packs of 4 or 6 just waiting to be turned into golden deliciousness. They are also usually available in the Chinatown butcher shops with roast pork, duck, and chicken, and other Chinese butcher shops around town, both roasted plain or done with a red "char siu" flavoring. I find those to be a bit dry, but there is no such thing as a bad turkey tail. Don't know why they are so common here and nowhere else I've been, but I'm happy the way it is. I just wish I could get chicken tails the same way!
I buy my turkey tails at a meat market or you can try a cold storage. Here in el paso,tx they sell a 30#
Case for $22.00.
Macaraca and Anonymous...boy, you guys are lucky. i can only get 9 -12 on a good day...or i save them up in the freezer 'til i get enough to cook in a big bunch. thanks for stopping by.
love to all you turkey tail fans out there !!!!
Ask any Samoan about turkey tails and their eyes will cross and they will begin drooling...they are an island delicacy!!!
hey Bill. i just scored 4 more for the next batch. i have to collect them, sometimes one at a time, but i think i've got a major hook up with a new butcher. turkey tails for everyone !
I am so disappointed. When I saw this article, I thought I hit the jackpot! Finally, someone who knows where to find turkey tails! LOL Then you have the nerve to flaunt that juicy, succulent piece over the internet! This past Thanksgiving, I decided to do the right thing and let my mother and Aunt enjoy the tail seeing how they are older. I'm going through withdrawal symptoms now as a result! There was a grocery store here that sold them in a package, but as soon as I found out about they had stopped :-(. Sign me up for the TT Club. I'll be President LOL
Anonymous...or should i say...Your Honor...Mr President...how nice of you to give up the best bite of the year...and it only comes around once a year...in most house holds. not to make you jealous or anything...i just cooked up about 13 tails and they are ready for the BBQ today to get a good smoky char on the fatty bits...YUMMMM!!! have you tried asking your local butcher? i bet you could order them. they freeze well and you could just take out a few when you need a TT fix. thanks for the comment...J
Hi jules and Ruby; please include me in the tails lovers club of all animals (including man, the man, the great unknown )ha ha ha ...
In my city, Guadalajara, 57Kms.from Madrid, impossible to find them but I go much madrid and there is a tiny market where I found all wanted, sell the turkey by parts so that I've done with 36, certainly dirt cheap, that's what I'll tell you. Thank you for your generosity and greetings.
Sorry if it is written in Indian "haw" ,is the translation of google
hi Wendy...yay...another turkey tail member. you'll have to stock up when you go to Madrid. FYI...they freeze well...lol ...thanks for the comment
I'm making my second batch today kinda/sorta using this recipe:
http://www.the-perfect-turkey.com/turkey-tails.html
I found they weren't really tender so today, after this initial simmer on the cooktop, I've popped into a 225 oven for a couple of hours. I'll refrigerate to remove as much of the HUGE amount of fat as possible and then throw on the grill to crisp them up.
FYI, I find them all the time in my Latino market.
I'm all in!! People think in crazy and yes there correct about that. Crazy for turkey tails. My grandfather turned me on to this little secret. Get mine from my local Kroger store. Just talk to your butcher. Thanks for the recipe!
OMG...i can't believe i missed these last 2 comments...
HI CATH...i hope i get to find how they were...my bad for not seeing your comment. i will check out the recipe you mentioned
HI B-MC...
your Grandfather was a SMART man!...yes, they sure are delicious. let's keep it a secret or they will blow up in price like everything else...thanks for the comment
We are a unigue bunch,lover of TT's my wife thinks im crazy..may i suggest alt to braising..slow cooker.after a crisping up in the broiler..or you can reverse it..thanks for the recipe frederick
HI Frederick...
So happy to meet another TT lover. Yes, there are so many ways to cook these fine delicacies and i will try as many as i can. Many happy tails to you my friend.
We love turkey tails.I usually prepare them with great northern beans and cook them down low until the beans and tails are in a gravy! MMM Good.But, I am getting ready to try this recipe.They look delicious.I AM DEFINITELY PART OF THE TURKEY CLUB!!!!
OH yeah! Definitely part of the Turkey Tail Club!!!
for sure trying this recipe. Saw your other one and loved it too. I find mine at FoodMaxx here in Northern California.
Question though, you mention the bit of feather that might be sticking out. I tend to be neurotic and slice them to pull ALL the stupid pieces of the bottom of the feathers that tend to be there. Some black (blood?). should I worry about that or not LOL
I eat low-carb to keep diabetes under control and wanted to share. BBQ sauce is too much sugar for me and I don't like fake sugars, so I go for spicy, rather than sticky. I crock-pot the tails with chicken broth and whatever spicy spice appeals at the moment for 4 hours. I let them cool overnight and pull them out and individually de-feather them. Then I sprinkle a tiny bit of salt (I absolutely love tobasco salt for this) and a heavy dose of whatever dry spice is appealing at the moment, often chipotle. Bake at 350 for between 30 and 45 minutes in the oven, turning them over once, until they are crispy brown. My absolute favourite meat, and I don't have to share because everybody in my family thinks they're disgusting. Lucky lucky me. I'm having them tonight with no-sugar coleslaw.
Best way here in samoa is to chop them up bit of onion delicate soy sauce then bake them in taro leaves in the outdoor rock oven which we call the umu, delicious.
Hi everyone, just came across this as I have never made turkey tails but I love them and was trying to find out how to make them. For anyone having a problem finding turkey tails may call 1-716-893-3323 and ask the fine folks there at super price choppers who they get their turkey tails from or if you are in the western new york area, they even have free delivery on any orders over $65.00 and accept cash, credit/debit and food stamps aka snap
You can also buy them by the case there, I'd say there's a good 30-50 tails in a case, i want to say. Happy tailing 😁
does anyone know where to buy turkey tails in NYC?
Thank you
Here in the SF Bay Area, they are hard to keep in stock. I found foster farms packages them, but not all markets carry foster farms turkey tails , even though they carry other FF products. FF claims we can request from supermarket tho. In the Silicon Valley area of the San Fran/South Bay/east bay, I found it but you must act fast. I find the Polynesian/pacific island community gobbles (no pun intended ;) up. I even went to one where someone had placed 6 packages in his basket with someone else waiting to get next round. I came up and it was empty. :( Clerk said to come next week...my point here is turkey tails are so popular. I'm now building an inventory of frozen turkey tails and all ready smoked turkey tails in my little freezer.
They have an interesting story in the Pacific Islands. Esp Samoa
http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/05/14/182568333/samoans-await-the-return-of-the-tasty-turkey-tail
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