DEEP FRIED TURKEY

Tastes great - but be careful

A little over 20 years ago as a new food editor, I ran across a man who deep-fried turkeys. Wow! Who ever heard of that? I asked. It sounded too bizarre to offer readers who were presumably sane and too busy for nonsense. But the news hound in me couldn't turn down the invitation for my husband and me to watch the performance of the deepfry and taste the aftermath.

So one weekday at noon, we showed up in the courtyard of a French Quarter hotel where hotel manager-restaurateur Jim Chehardy was firing up a crawfish boiling pot with 10 gallons of cooking oil. On the table was a 25-pound dressed turkey that had been injected with crab boil the night before and was connected to a yellow nylon rope. Soon he dropped the cayennecoated bird into the oil where it sizzled and bubbled for an hour and 45 minutes - this, a turkey that normally would bake for four or more hours. At the end of cooking time, he pulled the rope that was lassoed around the turkey and withdrew a beautifully browned, crispy crusted turkey that, when sliced, oozed juice from its tender, moist meat. Never had I eaten turkey so good!

About a year later, when many of the nation's food writers came to town for a conference, I asked Chehardy to demonstrate this miracle to the 110, mostly newspaper food editors, attending. So he did. But the nation wasn't ready yet for deep-Med turkey. Not even New Orleans was ready. Only in the country of South Louisiana were cooks, mostly men, daring to fry the turkey. It was a Cajun thing.

But, Lord knows, there were enough Cajuns, or at least experimental cooks, in New Orleans who couldn't pass up the recipe. It started taking off and one or two food editors were brave enough to run the recipe in their less imaginative hometowns. But my, how things have changed! I'll bet if you did a survey on how many people are deep-frying their turkeys for Thanksgiving, or at least buying a deepfried one, it would be a large percentage of those cooking turkey. At least in New Orleans it would. It's what we've done at our house for many years, especially when we have outof-town guests who want to witness the experience. All agree the turkey is delicious. Cooking it outside also frees up your oven for dressing, rolls and casseroles.

My, we've we come a long way! The original recipe not only included the yellow rope but a hypodermic needle. Using our crawfish boiling pots, we spent more on oil than we did on the turkey. Now, slender pots are manufactured and a fraction of the oil is required. We also fry smaller turkeys for a much shorter time about 30 to 40 minutes, often cooking two or more to assure proper leftovers. Later, we food writers did our stories on the company that manufectured turkey injectors that come with the marinade. Before that invention we just mixed up liquid crab boil and water and shot up the turkey with a horse syringe.

There are those who say the process is too much trouble and they buy their turkeys already fried. I tried that once, had to pick it up a day early because the store was closed on Thanksgiving and was thoroughly disappointed when the turkey was no longer crisp on the outside. True, you can reheat it but it's not the same. Turkey-frying rigs are relatively cheap, the oil can be strained and reused time and again and there's nothing like a turkey right out of the cooking pot. That is, 15 minutes later. The meat must rest that long to coagulate the juices before carving. Then, that beautiful, moist turkey just melts in your mouth and the skin is as crisp as cracklins. My favorite part is the wing that, amazingly, doesn't dry out and offers more crispy skin than any other part. Yum.

Okay. Now to the negative.

When I ran that story about the deep-fry I made my most legendary mark on food writing history. On Thanksgiving night on the 10 o'clock news, we saw a man being interviewed in front of his flaming home. His remark was, "I'll never use another one of those recipes." Then, half a week later, a let ter arrived from a woman out of town, saying, "Yes, we too, burned down our house."

Actually, the fires burned only part of the houses but the cooks had failed to fry the turkeys in the backyard as the story had indicated. From that day on, any reference by me to deep-frying turkey includes these warnings: Never fry a turkey inside or near a structure. Be careful not to spill the oil into the flame. And, by all means, don't allow children or pets to go near the pot.

Around the newsroom I became known as the first food editor to burn down two houses.

Taking that in stride, you may want to consider frying your turkey for Thanksgiving, now that we all have so much experience in the process. Hardware stores, some grocery stores and the Internet all sell the rigs for cooking them. If you're just getting started, you'll want the whole kit including a 30-quart pot with basket, turkey rack and hook, propane gas burner and thermometer. We always bring the last one cooked to the table, holding the others for backup, seconds and sandwiches. Here is my family's tried-and-true recipe and, seriously, don't forget to do the cooking outside.

DEEP-FRIED TURKEY

112-pound turkey (or between 10 and 15 pounds)

1 turkey injector with poultry marinade (available at any grocery store)

Creole or Cajun seasoning mix such as Tony Chachere's, or a mixture of cayenne pepper, paprika, white pepper, black pepper, garlic powder and celery salt

2 to 3 gallons peanut oil

The night before, rinse and pat dry a fresh or thawed turkey. If using a 30-quart pot, the turkey should be no larger than 15 pounds. Using the injector, shoot the marinade through the skin and into the meat all over the turkey, according to package directions. One jar will probably be enough for 2 turkeys. If only using half, pour the half you are using into a bowl and store the rest in the refrigerator. Sprinkle turkey heavily with seasoning inside and out. Wrap in foil, place in a large pan and refrigerate overnight.

About 2 hours before your scheduled meal time (or 21/2 hours if frying 2 turkeys), fill the pot about 2/3 full of oil. Begin heating the oil over a medium to high flame and heat to 375 degrees, using the thermometer that hooks on to the pot. The amount of oil depends on the size of your turkey. Some people put the turkey in the pot, cover it with water and measure the water to determine the amount of oil needed. Your cooking oil needs only to cover the turkey. Using too much oil increases the chances of it boiling over onto the flame.

Meanwhile, place turkey on the rack through the breast side so that the breast will go into the pot first. When the oil reaches 375 degrees, place turkey in basket and lower it into the pot. Adjust the fire high enough to return the temperature to 350 degrees as soon as possible. The temperature should be between 350 and 370 degrees during the entire time of cooking. Cooking time is 3 1/2 minutes per pound, or 42 minutes for a 12-pound turkey. Remove the turkey from oil with the grab hook and basket, drain, place on a platter and let it rest for 15 mjnutes before serving. One 12-pound turkey serves about 6 people.

WARNINGS: Place cooking rig away from any structures including a carport or overhang of a house. Most fires that have been caused by deep-frying turkeys result from spilling the oil onto the flame. Situate the pot on the burner before adding the oil. Use only enough oil to cover the turkey. Then, keep children and pets away from the pot during the cooking and until the oil has cooled completely. It is a good idea to remove the hot pot from trie burner when finished so that nothing will tilt it over. Then, cover the pot and place it in a safe place.