For those of you that don’t follow tradition during the festive period, why not try our Surrey fried turkey poppers. Great for a Christmas Eve treat!
These deep fried morsels make for perfect finger food in the run up to the big day, you can match them up to all kinds of bold flavours… dunked straight into our very own chilli jam for an extra kick or maybe nestled beside some celeriac remoulade spiked with citrus and dijon mustard? Or, maybe even stacked into a toasted bun with some melted cheese and a winter slaw?!
The kids will love these and could even help with making them, mixing the marinaded or helping to dust each piece of turkey in the dredge before frying. Keep the frying to the grown ups as it can be quite hot work for little fingers!
If you want to shun the turkey all together this year, why not try using rabbit or pheasant to really mix things up? Not only will rabbit and pheasant be a good alternative, it’s cheap, seasonal and generally super local.
The Surrey fried turkey poppers can be cooked over fire or on a hob in your kitchen.
750g turkey breast
284ml tub buttermilk
1 tsp The Salt Box Chilli, Fennel and Orange Seasoning
300g gram flour
75g corn flour (can replace for extra gram flour to keep it gluten free)
2 tsp The Salt Box Chilli, Fennel and Orange Seasoning
250ml of vegetable oil (or enough to cover the base of your pan)
(You can also replace our Seasoning, with a seasoning of your choice)
Place the buttermilk into a bowl and stir together with the Chilli, Fennel and Orange Seasoning.
Using a sharp knife, slice the turkey breast thinly against the grain around a centimetre or two thick (If you are making canapés, cut the turkey into bite size pieces).
Add the turkey pieces to your buttermilk mix, cover and place in the fridge for a few hours (but preferably overnight).
Place the oil into a heavy saucepan, leaving plenty of room in the pan in case the oil gets a bit lively. Heat until it reaches a temp of 175.c, don’t leave the pan unattended at any point as cooking with hot oil can be dangerous.
Whilst the oil is warming, mix together the gram flour, corn flour and the Chilli, Fennel and Orange Seasoning.
Remove the turkey from the buttermilk and allow any excess to drip back into the bowl. Dredge the turkey and place into the hot oil. Do this in batches as you don’t want the oil to cool too much.
Fry for a couple of minutes on each side or until golden brown. Check the core temperature of the turkey using a temperature probe (we’d recommend a Thermapen), aiming for a core temp of 75 degrees C. Once cooked, remove from the pan and allow to drain on a wire rack set over a tray or on kitchen paper to soak up any excess fat.
Repeat until all the turkey is cooked. Enjoy with a winter slaw and lashings of chilli jam.
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Cooking with hot oil can be dangerous, never leave the pan of oil on the heat unattended, especially over the fire.
Use an instant read thermometer like the Thermapen pictured below to measure the core temperature of the turkey as it cooks, remember it’s always best to cook to temperature and not time. You are looking for a core temperature of 75 degrees C – it will most likely be higher as the piece of meat is surrounded by hot fat and the heat should be nice and even.
If you are cooking lots of turkey, don’t be tempted to crowd the pan as this will reduce the temperature of the oil – and you wont end up with nice crisp and crunchy turkey popper.
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