1 wild turkey (see note below)                                       1 can (26 oz.) cream of chicken soup
1 box Anne's frozen dumplings                                      1 stick (1/4 lb.) butter
1 teaspoon (Tellicherry) - to taste                                2 teaspoons Morton table salt - to taste
1 can (10 3/4 oz) chicken broth                                     3 chicken bouillon cubes or 1 Tbs. Anne's Chicken Base
1 gallon stock reserved from cooked wild turkey or chicken broth/stock

Place wild turkey legs, back and wings in a 12 quart sauce pot and add enough water to completely cover the wild turkey and 1 teaspoon of salt.  Boil on high/medium heat about 3 hours until turkey can be pulled from the bones; discarding  the skin, bones and fat from turkey.  Cut or pull turkey into smaller pieces and set aside.  Let the stock cool down until the fat coagulates and skim most of the fat off the stock.  Bring reserved turkey stock (at least one gallon or more) back to a rolling boil and add 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, chicken bouillon cubes, stick of butter, can of chicken broth and break frozen dumpling pieces into thirds adding a few at a time until all the dumplings are added to the pot.  Reduce heat to medium/low and boil until the dumplings began to swell up and are tender; takes about 40 minutes.  Add deboned turkey and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes until turkey is thoroughly heated through.  Add cream of chicken soup and once mixed, turn heat off; place lid on pot and let set 40 minutes to an hour, whereas the dumplings will continue to absorb the broth and swell to their maximum size.  Adjust seasonings as needed and serve while hot with your favorite sides. 

NOTE:  I saved the wild turkey breast for a stir fry or wild turkey nuggets and use the neck, legs, wings and back for the dumplings.

YIELD:  10 or more servings

This recipe was recently inspired by my friend Jim Yarboro of Gun Barrel City, Texas.  This recipe is a copy and paste of my bride's Chicken and Dumplings recipe, except for the Wild Turkey meat.

Above wild turkey dumplings prepared on 07-19-18.  The dumplings were good, but it does not compare to dumplings made from a big fat hen in my humble opinion.  This recipe was my first test run and it needs to be kicked up a notch or two with 1 tablespoon of my wild bill's meat rub, 2 bay leaves, 1 tablespoon rubbed sage and 1 tablespoon bacon fat added to the broth while cooking the dumplings.  However, my bride cannot tolerate much heat aka cayenne pepper since her stroke of 12 years ago.  There wasn't much fat on the ole long beard as with a chicken hen, whereas the chicken fat adds a tremendous amount of flavor to the dumplings.

Dumplings don't photograph that well (bland looking) and added diced red and green bell pepper garnish for eye candy for the camera!  

MAIN INGREDIENT BELOW

My friend John Gaddy aka "Big John" of Polkton, NC with a 20 pound Long Beard he harvested on 04-27-18 and will be the main ingredient for the Wild Turkey Dumplings.

I removed the breast fillets from the Wild Turkey, skinned the turkey and saved the legs, wings, back and neck for the dumplings.  Click on thumbnail pixs for a larger screen view:

I pressure cooked the turkey pieces which included 1/2 turkey breast for 35 minutes at 15 pounds pressure and left in the cooker with the burner off for about an hour.  Be sure and follow your pressure cooker manufacturers instructions.  I had one mishap with a pressure cooker in the past and I guarantee you I will follow all safety precautions.  Safety Tips as follows:  Make certain steam vent stem is not obstructed.  I leave the petcock off the pressure cooker until steam comes from the vent stem.  Don't put too much water in the pressure cooker, otherwise the boiling broth foam could clog up the vent to the petcock creating a safety hazard by not allowing excess steam to escape.

While the turkey carcass cooled down, I put the turkey broth in another pot and allowed to come to a boil.  After the turkey was deboned of editable meat, it was set aside.  Notice the pile of turkey bones, of which each leg has at least six (6) long cartilaginous structures (splinters) which are tendons that are calcified and bonelike.  One of the sequence pixs above, shows the amount of calcified tendons from the legs.  I normally only save the wild turkey breast for nuggets and a stir fry!

DUMPLINGS

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons shortening or lard
3/4 cup buttermilk or water

Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.  Cut in the shortening or lard with two forks or a dough cutter.  Add the buttermilk, stirring with a fork until moistened.  Knead the dough four to five times and roll out flat about 1/8 inch thick.  Cut into dumpling into 1 inch width strips and then about 1.5 inches in length with a sharp knife.  Place on waxed paper. 

If desired, you can make the dumplings ahead of time and freeze with wax paper between each layer.  Personally, Anne's Frozen Dumplings taste great!  All of us has our own preferences since our Mom or Grandma made things from scratch the ole way, not having things available as we do today.  I am speaking of those that were brought up during the Great Depression Era.

Above dumpling recipe is a generic recipe from the internet.  Folks east of us, call dumplings pastry which look like "globs" of dough not rolled out and placed into the broth/stock.

Web published by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 04-28-18 and updated on 07-19-18.