Cape Cod Stuffed Turkey (Or Codfish)

The Sacred Cod – Is It Really A Turkey?

The noble fish after which our peninsula is named is the cod (Gadus morhua), often referred to as Cape Cod turkey because it was eaten by locals who could neither afford nor find a turkey of the feathered variety. Currently the feathered variety is more readily available and far less expensive than the scaled variety on Cape Cod. There are more wild turkeys around every year — one has even become a volunteer fireman in Woods Hole. (You can often see it hanging around the fire station on Woods Hole Road.) There are now thriving turkey farms on the Cape.

We have never lacked for that variety of turkey that has neither feathers nor scales here on the Cape; I am referring to man (Homo sapiens), the only featherless biped. As we feather- and scale-less turkeys grow in numbers, cod are declining drastically; some men even fear for its survival. Conservation practices show signs of success. The cod is available and still as delicious as it ever was. So let’s cook it right!

You could do a lot worse than dining on baked stuffed cod for Thanksgiving dinner; add extra seafood to the stuffing (my family called it dressing), and you will have something grand! The following recipe for stuffing can be used with either fish or fowl. Whichever variety you choose will leave your guests talking turkey, happy to be your friends.

By Dave “Pops” Masch

Ingredients:
(1) 8-lb. codfish (or 12-lb. turkey)
3 cups of mixed seafood, chopped (shrimp, scallops, crabmeat, squid, lobster, quahogs and oysters in any
combination)
1 sweet pepper, diced
1 large onion, diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
4 strips bacon
1 tsp. powdered mustard (optional)
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 dashes or more of Tabasco
1/2 tsp. thyme
3 TBS parsley, chopped
4 eggs
1 loaf Portuguese bread
1 cup white wine
1/2 cup sherry
1 stick butter
Salt and pepper

If you are using a fish, you will also need the following ingredients:
1 cup olive oil
2 large tomatoes
1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced
2 TBS flour

Remove the backbone from a whole codfish, or have your fishmonger do it for you. Leave the head on.

Sauté the celery, onion, garlic and green pepper in the butter until soft and lightly colored. Add the mixed seafood, Tabasco, white wine, thyme, parsley, and a little salt and pepper. Sauté, gently stirring, for 5 minutes.

Tear the bread into small pieces, and moisten it with broth. Beat the eggs, add them to the moistened bread, and mix thoroughly. Cook the bacon until brown, then crumble it into the bread mixture. Add the bread mixture to the sautéed seafood and vegetables, and mix, adding more broth if necessary. Add the sherry to the paste.

It is now ready to put into the cod or turkey.

If you are using a bird, roast it in the usual manner. I recommend 15 minutes per pound (stuffed weight) at 350 degrees. Cover the bird with foil for all but the last 1/2 hour of cooking. Most turkeys are cooked too long. Follow these directions, and you will be delighted and so will your guests.

To do a genuine Cape Cod turkey, a cod, sew the stuffing into the partially boned fish. Pour a cup of olive oil into a roasting pan, and add 1½ cups of fish or chicken broth to the oil. Lay the cod in the stock. Slice up a couple of onions and tomatoes and lay some on top of the fish; spread the remainder in the pan. Cover the pan with a tent of aluminum foil, and roast in a 450-degree oven for 1 hour. Baste every 15 minutes. Forty-five minutes into the cooking, uncover the fish, and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of flour into the broth and the sliced mushrooms.

Finish cooking uncovered.

Lift the fish onto a serving platter. Spoon the cooked vegetables and broth over the fish. Garnish with parsley and lemon slices. Serve with mashed potatoes or rice, or both. My, my! This is an unforgettable dish.

This recipe is based on a creation of Howard Mitcham, fish cook extraordinaire and author of The Provincetown Seafood Cookbook.