I have been hunting as well as trying to figure out the wild turkey, more specifically the tom turkey for nineteen springs. I'm not sure what fascinates me the most about this bird. Yes it has incredible eye sight, it's wonderful tasting and although not the best flyer, he can bust from the ground, take to the sky, avoid being shot and be gone from sight before you can blink and do a double-take. But I think what gets me most is his ability to change the plays in the middle of the game without rhyme or reason, meaning that just when I think I have figured out what his next move is gonna be and believe I've got the bead on him(literally), he blindsides me and does the exact opposite. That makes the game interesting, but it also keeps my success rate to one turkey every two to three seasons. It does not however deter me, it only brings me back to the woods each spring with all the enthusiasm of the previous year and more.
This past season happened to be one that did not produce meat for the table or freezer. Just when I thought I knew where they were going to be at sunrise, because that's where they've been the last three mornings...surprise, I'm there and ready but those sneaky birds just went and flipped the switch turned up where I had been on the previous mornings and managed to elude me this year. Luckily I had one last package of frozen breast meat from last season and I wanted to try a new preparation. My go to dish for wild turkey breast is "Schnitzel" style, lightly pounded & breaded with panko or your favorite crumb then pan-fried. When this dish is cooked properly and not over-cooked it's superb eating. But this time I'm going to do Enchiladas. I normally make them with chicken or seafood but I figured that the turkey would be an excellent substitution. I also wanted to use my Blackstone griddle to prepare the filling and then bake them in a cast iron pan over wood coals in my fire pit. I planned on charring some peppers & scallions for the dish over fire and also grill-sear the breast meat, so I would already have the hot coals to bake the enchiladas with.
Cooking on the Blackstone is a blast, it's like having a giant sauté pan to cook just about anything you want. I've done, smashed burgers, fried rice, cheesesteaks, breakfast and more with fantastic results. The enchiladas were no different, the key is to have all your ingredients and tools ready and close by so that when the griddle is hot you don't have to run around searching for items you need for the recipe. it also cleans up easily. I just make sure to give it a good coat of oil when finished, like I do with cast iron to minimize rust since it is steel and is kept outside.
After making the filling and removing it to a bowl I toasted the corn tortillas on the griddle, filled & rolled them then placed them into a 10" cast iron pan. I then wrapped the lid with foil so that I could put coals on top for a true oven style cook. probably didn't need to do this but since the lid was thin aluminum I did not want to discolor or warp it.
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