THE BIRDS

For this year's Thanksgiving centerpiece, forget about serving a brined turkey. That's so yesterday. And leave the deep-fat fryer tucked in the the garage. We're over that idea, too. This year, advise your guests to have their camera phones ready. They'll want to

Prepare Andouille Dressingthe turduckenCut through the ball-andsocket joint to release the thigh bone from the carcass; you should now be able to open up the bird more to better see what bones are left. Continue teasing the meat away from the carcass until you reach the center front of the breastbone. Then, very carefully separate the skin from the breastbone at the midline without piercing the skin (go slowly because the skin is very thin at this point).Your goal is to end up with one large piece of essentially boneless turkey meat; the finished product will contain only the tip of each leg bone and the first two joints of each wing. You will end up with one piece of boneless duck meat and one piece of boneless chicken meat.Below is Prudhomme's complex but rewarding turducken recipe with dressing. You'll need to sharpen your knives and plan a couple of days to make one. You can make the stuffings and debone the birds the day before; be diligent about keeping everything cold. The next day, you can assemble the deboned birds and pop them in the oven to roast. Cook at 325 degrees for eight to nine hours, or until it reaches 165 degrees in the center.No one is certain whoDeboning1 (15-by-11-inch) ungreased baking pan, at least 2 1/2 inches deepBe careful not to pierce the skin except for the initial slits. (Cuts in the skin tend to enlarge during cooking and result in a less attractive, drier dish.)1 pan, larger than the 15-by-11-inch pan, that the smaller pan will fit inside of, with room to spare. (NOTE: The 15-by-11-inch pan is ideal because the turducken fits snugly in the pan and keeps its shape while cooking.)Cornbread Dressing (recipe at right)Prepare Cornbread Dressingimpressive dish: a deboned chicken inside a deboned duck inside aa turducken.He doesn't use stuffing in his turducken, which Prudhomme did.dreamed up this unusual recipe,one day aheadSteps to be doneOur other chef, The Blue Star executive chef James Davis, puts a twist on the typical turducken: He uses turkey, duck and chicken breasts rather than whole birds, seasons the meat with his own Cajun blackening seasoning and adds a layer of different stuffings on each meat.Repeat the same deboning procedure on the other side of the turkey, with the turkey still breast down. When both sides are finished, carefully remove the carcass. Then remove the thighbone and leg bone on each side as follows. Being careful not to break through the skin, use a small hammer to break the leg bone completely across, about two inches from the tip. Then manipulate both ends of the bone with your hands to be sure the break is complete. Leave the tip of the bone in, but remove the leg bone and thighbone as one unit. To do this, cut away the meat from around the thighbone first, using the knife tip; then, holding the thighbone up with one hand, use the other hand to carefully cut away the meat from around the leg-thigh joint. (Don't cut through this joint, and don't worry if it seems as if you're leaving a lot of meat around the joint -- it can't be helped, and, besides, it will add flavor when you make the stock with the bones.) Then use the blade of the knife to scrape the meat away from the leg bone; remove the thigh- leg bone. With your hands or the knife, one by one remove as many pin bones from the leg meat as possible; then, if necessary, pull the tip of the leg bone to turn the meat to the inside (so the skin is on the outside and it looks like a turkey again). Lay the deboned turkey on a sheet pan and immediately place in the coldest part of the refrigerator. Reserve the bones and neck for making the stock. Reserve and refrigerate the giblets for making the Cornbread Dressing.deboned turkey.3 metal or bamboo skewersmany dictionaries, but the nameTo create Matthews' version, check out a video of the process at www.gazette.com.The basicsPrepare Shrimp DressingPlace the turkey, breast down, on a flat surface. Make an incision the entire length of the spine through the skin and flesh. Starting from the neck end and using the tip of the knife, follow as close to the bone as you can cut, carefully teasing the skin and meat away from the frame. Toward the neck end, cut through the meat to expose the shoulder blade (feel for it first and cut through small amounts of meat at a time if you have trouble locating it); cut the meat away from around the bone and sever the bone at the joint so you can remove the blade."It's not that easy," he said. "It's a manly task to roll it all up and keep it together. Gotta work it. Once I get it rolled up, I use several layers of foil to hold it together."Here's what you need to make Prudhomme's stuffed turducken and how to schedule the steps.1 (5- to 6-pound) domestic ducklingDebone one side of each bird, either the left or right, before doing the other side.Steps for makingUse a sharp knife and use mainly the tip; stay close to the bone at all times with the knife."I completely debone a chicken and duck," said Matthews, who hails from New Orleans, where he learned to make the dish. "Then I partially debone a turkey. I leave part of the wings and legs. The chicken is put inside the duck and then the turkey is laid over that. With part of the wings and legs still attached it looks like a stuffed turkey."hints at the components of thisFor the time-challenged, check with grocery store butchers to see whether they'll debone the birds for you (as Whole Foods Market does). Otherwise it's helpful to keep the following in mind:Shrimp Dressing (recipe on Food 7)To debone the turkeyWithin a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving you will find fresh turkeys, ducks and chickens. However, if you want to make a turducken not so near the holidays, you will be able to find only frozen turkeys and ducks. You'll need to plan time for these birds to defrost in the refrigerator. A frozen turkey will take at lease five days to defrost, and a frozen duck will take about three days to defrost in the fridge.6 sheet pansBring the water to a simmer and prepare the poultry stock (to be used in the dressings; recipe at right)1 (3- to 4-pound) chickenget a shot of you serving this one:You won't find it defined inAllow yourself plenty of time, especially if you're a beginner. And even if you are experienced, approach deboning with a gentle, careful touch -- the meat is not tough, and you want to end up with as much of it as possible.1 (15- to 20-pound) turkeyChef Victor Matthews, owner of the Black Bear Restaurant in Green Mountain Falls and the Paragon Culinary School, makes the version that most closely resembles the original.Andouille Sausage Dressing (recipe at right)"My turducken is more of a roulade," said Davis, who has worked as a chef in Louisiana. "I flatten the turkey breast and spread it with a sage and bread stuffing. Then the duck breast is pounded and laid on top of the sage stuffing. I cover it with a layer of cornbread stuffing. Finally, a flattened chicken breast is laid on and topped with my spicy andouille sausage stuffing."Though it's a departure from the norm, it's found a following: Davis makes hundreds of his rouladelike turduckens for people to pick up and take home to cook for Thanksgiving. (See ordering information on the Food cover)"There are a couple of reasons I don't use stuffing," Matthews said. "First, because of the denseness with all the meats stuffed together, you want to be sure it reaches 165 (degrees) in the center. Stuffing would add more bulk and take longer to get done. And stuffing draws moisture out of the meat. You want to keep the meat moist."Debone the birdsThen he rolls up the layers.but most credit chef Paul Prudhomme of New Orleans. So we turned to two local chefs who spent time in Louisiana to learn firsthand how to make turduckens at home.An important note about refrigeration: As you complete the steps, you will be refrigerating the fowl and dressings. It is critical that you keep the meats as cold as possible before preparing them, and to chill all the finished items as quickly as possible after preparing. The best way to do this is to spread the prepared items (or lay them flat, in the case of the deboned fowl) on a sheet pan and place them in the coldest part of your refrigerator. While the items are chilling, keep the fridge door closed as much as possible.

Repeat the same deboning procedure on the other side of the turkey, with the turkey still breast down. When both sides are finished, carefully remove the carcass. Then remove the thighbone and leg bone on each side as follows. Being careful not to break through the skin, use a small hammer to break the leg bone completely across, about two inches from the tip. Then manipulate both ends of the bone with your hands to be sure the break is complete. Leave the tip of the bone in, but remove the leg bone and thighbone as one unit. To do this, cut away the meat from around the thighbone first, using the knife tip; then, holding the thighbone up with one hand, use the other hand to carefully cut away the meat from around the leg-thigh joint. (Don't cut through this joint, and don't worry if it seems as if you're leaving a lot of meat around the joint -- it can't be helped, and, besides, it will add flavor when you make the stock with the bones.) Then use the blade of the knife to scrape the meat away from the leg bone; remove the thigh- leg bone. With your hands or the knife, one by one remove as many pin bones from the leg meat as possible; then, if necessary, pull the tip of the leg bone to turn the meat to the inside (so the skin is on the outside and it looks like a turkey again). Lay the deboned turkey on a sheet pan and immediately place in the coldest part of the refrigerator. Reserve the bones and neck for making the stock. Reserve and refrigerate the giblets for making the Cornbread Dressing.