A Cajun Thanksgiving...

So, My favorite "food" memories in life for Thanksgivings were, 1.) Growing up, my mother would always get a deep fried turkey from Popeyes, & this amazing Crawfish cornbread dressing from Lagniappe market. 2.) My first husband's mother made the BEST homemade macaroni and his Dad made deep fried turkeys himself.

Now that I am in charge of my own Thanksgiving dinners, My husband and I were in search of our own deep fried turkey recipe and found Emeril's! It was great, though everyone besides myself, complained it was too spicy, so I tweeked it and here it is!

What You Will Need:

• 1 (10 to 12-pound) turkey, rinsed well inside and out, patted dry 2 tablespoons 
• 2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce.
• 1 tablespoon concentrated liquid crab boil (We use Zatarian's.)
• 1/4 cup apple cider
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1  bottle of beer. (We use Miller Lite.)
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup Creole seasoning (We use a mix of Slap Yo Mamma & Tony's.)
• a Dash of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup finely minced garlic 
• 3 teaspoons Sea salt
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 stick of butter to rub on the skin.

Blend all the ingredients in a blender until it is as liquified as possible. Then inject into every piece of the turkey as possible. I even stick some down the neck to marinate in!

* Make sure you use a LARGE syringe, because the mixture WILL get jammed in the injector if not! *


Crawfish Cornbread Dressing

What you will need:

•  2 1/2 cups squares of corn bread mixed with whole wheat bread. (When I do cheat, I use a box of  Stouffers Corn Bread Mix or turkey stuffing.
• 3 eggs
• 4 TBSP of REAL BUTTER (Not that spread crap.)
• 1/3 cup caramelized onion, celery, pepper, blend.
• 1 cup crawfish tails, preferably some from a real crawfish boil!
• 1/4 cup of Italian style bread crumbs, used as topping.
• 1 tsp Tony's cajun seasoning
• 3 cups of chicken broth.

What to Do:
Preheat oven to 375.
Combine all the above, except bread crumbs, ingredients in a large bowl. Once it is thoroughly combined, move it into a greased baking dish. I like my Glass Pyrex dish.
Now sprinkle the bread crumbs on top and place into the oven.
Bake for Approx. 20-30 minutes covered, and then for another 10-15 or until the top is browned.

I hope you like it, & have a blessed thanksgiving!
Stay safe, & be careful frying up those turkeys!

Most importantly, put the FUN in dysfunctional family! HA