Wild In The Kitchen: Brennan’s Turtle Stew

Brennan’s Turtle Stew

No trip to New Orleans is complete without breakfast at Brennan’s. I tried the restaurant’s iconic and strange breakfast dish, turtle stew, on my very first trip and have ordered it every visit since. By chance, I was able to hunt with one of the restaurant’s chefs, and I begged him for the recipe. With turtles from my pond, I made the turtle stew, and it was great. It is involved and requires a lot of stirring, but it is well worth it!

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 lbs. turtle meat

8 cloves minced garlic

2 medium white onions, minced

4 stalks celery, minced

2 medium bell peppers, minced

2 tomatoes, chopped fine

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3 quarts beef stock

1 cup Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp. pepper sauce

2 tbsp. chopped parsley

2 tbsp. chopper thyme

6 oz. fresh spinach, chopped

5 hard-boiled eggs

zest from 3 lemons

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup sherry

1 1/2 tbsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

Melt butter in a 7-quart saucepan. Add turtle meat and garlic. Cook until meat is no longer pink. Stir in onions, celery, bell salt and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook five minutes stirring as not to scorch. Reduce heat to medium. Add flour and cook for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Slowly add the beef stock stirring constantly. Stir in the Worcestershire sauce, pepper sauce, parsley and thyme. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add spinach, lemon zest, lemon juice and sherry. Simmer 10 minutes more.