How to Make a Delicious Gluten-Free Christmas Dinner for Under Twenty Bucks

Celiac.com 12/15/2022 - If you've shopped lately, then you know the cost of everything is going up. If you've bought a turkey recently, then you've definitely felt the pain of inflation. It's not uncommon to spend $80-100 bucks on a Thanksgiving bird, and Christmas prices don't seem to be getting any better.

If you're looking for a tasty, flavorful turkey dinner for Christmas that's more in the twenty dollar range, then consider turkey necks. Yeah, you heard me, necks. Not just any turkey necks, but turkey necks slow-braised and served with gluten-free gravy over rice or mashed potatoes. Cheap and tasty, turkey necks are a way to eat cheaply, but well for Christmas. Turkey necks are also a great way to feed a small group, without having a hundred pounds of leftovers.

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Check with your local butcher, but it's not uncommon to pay about a buck a neck, so don't hold back!  For a deeper read on slow-braised turkey necks there's a great article on braised turkey necks by Ashlie D. Stevens over at Salon.com. 

Cookbook Discovery

In the article, Stevens relates the story of discovering recipes for braised turkey necks in a James Beard Award-nominated cookbook by Chris Shepherd and Kaitlyn Goalen, titled, "Cook Like a Local: Flavors That Can Change How You Cook and See the World."

In the book, Shepherd tells the story of how he first learned about turkey necks at his fist cooking job from a sous chef named Antoine Ware, who would always ask for the chicken or duck necks left over from butchering whole birds for the menu.

Ware would then braise the necks "into a brilliant stew with brown roux and Worcestershire sauce and serve it over rice for staff meal." According to ware, it was a version he learned from his mom in Louisiana.

It wasn't until he discovered a similar version at a Vietnamese crawfish spot in Houston, called Crawfish & Noodles, that he made the connection to Ware's version of the dish.

"I ordered it and couldn't believe how similar it was to Antoine's version. It was basically the same thing, plus fish sauce. The synergy of it was amazing; here I was sitting in a Vietnamese restaurant, eating boiled crawfish next to pho, next to turkey neck that reminded me of a Creole friend."

Shepherd's version is a dish packed with "layers of flavor, built from smoked paprika, thyme, garlic, fresh-sliced onion, fish sauce, dark brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce and Crystal hot sauce."

Ingredients for Braised Turkey Neck Recipe:

• Fresh Turkey Necks
• Bacon or olive oil
• Crystal Hot Sauce
• Onions
• Garlic Cloves
• Celery
• Bay Leaf
• Dried Thyme
• Dried Oregano
• Chicken Broth
• Fish Sauce
• Worcestershire sauce
• Gluten-Free Beer
• Gluten-Free Flour
• Butter

Turkey Necks Cooking Instructions (step by step):

Here's how to cook turkey necks so they're tender and full of flavor.

Fry bacon in a large dutch oven pot or large oven-safe skillet. Remove bacon and set aside.

Place turkey necks in the large skillet. Brown all side of the turkey necks in the bacon fat. Remove and set aside.

Add the onions and sauté 3-5 minutes until onions are a bit translucent. Add the celery, garlic, and peppers and sauté for another minute.

Season the vegetables with the creole spice mix plus the dried herbs.

Add a ½ cup of gluten-free beer and deglaze the bottom of the pot scraping up any browned bits. Reduce the beer by about half, then add the stock and Worcestershire sauce. Add a bit more seasoning plus the fish sauce, and hot sauce, and the bay leaf and mix well.

Add the turkey necks back to the pot. Bring everything to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cover with lid.

Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Place the pot into the oven and let braise about 2 hours.

While the turkey necks cook, make your roux. 

Make a Gluten-Free Roux

Roux is traditionally made by cooking flour in clarified butter in the oven, gently and for a long time, stirring frequently. Now, celiacs can't do a traditional roux, so you'll need to make a gluten-free brown roux substitute. 

For a gluten-free brown roux, try a gluten-free flour blend, arrowroot powder, or cornstarch. For the fast, Ghee or clarified butter are the ideal choices. Use about a 1:1 ratio of fat to gluten-free flour or starch. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, and start off in by cooking the flour and fat over medium heat until they form a smooth paste. Next, lower the heat and cook until the roux is a dark, chocolate brown. Stir very frequently and scrape the bottom of the pot to avoid burning. This should take an hour or more. You can do this in the oven by placing the ingredients in an oven safe pan and cooking them at 375 F. Stir occasionally.

Once the roux is done, remove the turkey necks from the oven. Take the turkey necks out of the pot and set aside. Add the roux to the pot and mix well. Cook on the stovetop over medium heat to allow the sauce to thicken. 

Serve the turkey necks with rice, topped with the brown gravy.

Braising is Key to Tender Turkey Necks

Much like oxtails, turkey necks require a little coaxing to become tender, so braising, lightly frying the meat and then simmering it slowly in liquid for a long time, produces the best results.

Turkey necks, like any cut that is cartilage rich, are great for making stock, because the collagen from the cartilage breaks down during the cooking process, and turns into gelatin, which makes a rich, tasty nutritious broth. Consider serving your holiday turkey necks with gravy over steamed white rice (or potatoes) and one or more of these gluten-free side dishes.

Make great gluten-free side dishes

    Here are four of our favorite side dishes to serve with braised turkey necks.

• Gluten-Free Holiday Gravy
• Holiday Mashed Potatoes
• Baked Rice With Spinach and Parmesan Cheese
• Black-eyed Peas
• Parmesan-Roasted Cauliflower
• Honey Glazed Baby Carrots

Make Gluten-Free Christmas Pies and Desserts

    Scroll down and follow the Pumpkin Pie recipe below, or follow the links to some of our best loved gluten-free desserts and baked goods (Note: King Arthur Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour will work well in place of regular wheat flour most of these recipes, so feel free to substitute as you like):

• Pumpkin Pie     
• Molasses Spice Cookies (Gluten-Free)
• Frosted Pumpkin Bars (Gluten-Free)          
• Pumpkin Cheesecake with Butter Pecan Crust (Gluten-Free)     
• Pumpkin Cheesecake with Almond Meal Crust
• Pumpkin Cheesecake with Butter Pecan Crust
• Traditional Gluten-free Apple Pie     

Serve Gluten-Free Wine, Beer, Eggnog, Cocktails & Punch

    Wine is gluten-free. To serve gluten-free beer, consult our Oktoberfest Beer Guide! Gluten-free vs. Gluten-removed Beers. All distilled spirits are gluten-free, but some people prefer to buy booze made from gluten-free ingredients. Here's a list of Christmas cocktails, eggnog and punch recipes that are made from gluten-free ingredients, and sure to brighten your holidays.