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Turkey Legs


winesonoma

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What would you do with them? I'm making turkey osso buco.

Bruce Frigard

Quality control Taster, Château D'Eau Winery

"Free time is the engine of ingenuity, creativity and innovation"

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How are you going to make them? Are you doing the veg, degalze with wine, add stock, and slow braise thing?? What are your side dishes. Most important....what are you drinking with it!!

If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding. How could you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat!??

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I don't often cook turkey legs.

BUt, I do know that with chicken or turkey lets, I always either cut off that knobby end where the foot was, or make sure and sever all of the tendons so the meat contracts (think lollipop) It does make a difference.

Turkey legs are also very good when smoked...

Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"
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Smoke em!

I have to do some butt on friday I think I will get some turkey legs too

thanx

T

The great thing about barbeque is that when you get hungry 3 hours later....you can lick your fingers

Maxine

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Can one confit a turkey leg? I suppose you'd have to use duck fat, but it sounds like it has potential. Might keep it from having that stringy texture, too.

Just a thought...

Katie M. Loeb
Booze Muse, Spiritual Advisor

Author: Shake, Stir, Pour:Fresh Homegrown Cocktails

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Can one confit a turkey leg?  I suppose you'd have to use duck fat, but it sounds like it has potential.  Might keep it from having that stringy texture, too.

Just a thought...

Katie, whacking off that knob or severing those tendons down by the knob help eliminate that stringiness, greatly.

Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"
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Roasting is always a reliable option. Especially since, as they're detached from a whole bird, you don't have the white-meat-vs.-dark-meat timing issue.

I've not done any smoking at all myself, but smoked turkey legs are definitely a great good thing to have on hand.

The turkey osso bucco sounds like a lovely idea too. I may have to try that sometime myself.

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Turkey-leg "au vin"---coq au vin with turkey legs. I make it regularly. Cheap turkey legs often come from older birds (leftovers from humongous turkey breasts), and so are perfect for slow braising.

He who distinguishes the true savor of his food can never be a glutton; he who does not cannot be otherwise. --- Henry David Thoreau
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Can one confit a turkey leg?  I suppose you'd have to use duck fat, but it sounds like it has potential.  Might keep it from having that stringy texture, too.

Just a thought...

Katie, whacking off that knob or severing those tendons down by the knob help eliminate that stringiness, greatly.

Thanks for that tip, Susan. I'll definitely try that next time. I really love the taste of turkey legs (I'm a dark meat preferrer, although breast is nice for sandwiches) but the texture is a bit of a turnoff. What you're saying makes complete logical sense to me.

The long slow "au vin" braise sounds like a good option too.

Katie M. Loeb
Booze Muse, Spiritual Advisor

Author: Shake, Stir, Pour:Fresh Homegrown Cocktails

Cheers!
Bartendrix,Intoxicologist, Beverage Consultant, Philadelphia, PA
Captain Liberty of the Good Varietals, Aphrodite of Alcohol

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Katie, whacking off that knob or severing those tendons down by the knob help eliminate that stringiness, greatly.

Absolutely! Cut off the ankle knob before braising or roasting. When cooked thoroughly, the tendons revealed at the end slip out easily, leaving just the meat.

He who distinguishes the true savor of his food can never be a glutton; he who does not cannot be otherwise. --- Henry David Thoreau
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Katie, whacking off that knob or severing those tendons down by the knob help eliminate that stringiness, greatly.

Absolutely! Cut off the ankle knob before braising or roasting. When cooked thoroughly, the tendons revealed at the end slip out easily, leaving just the meat.

I bought a mini-hacksaw just for this....

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We did this confit in olive oil some time ago and I tried this recipe and pronounced it great. I have made it a couple more times now. I reserve the oil for sauteing veggies and making salad dressing. It is delicious.

Linda LaRose aka "fifi"

"Having spent most of my life searching for truth in the excitement of science, I am now in search of the perfectly seared foie gras without any sweet glop." Linda LaRose

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Can one confit a turkey leg?  I suppose you'd have to use duck fat, but it sounds like it has potential.  Might keep it from having that stringy texture, too.

Just a thought...

Absolutely. Duck fat is the key. Oil will work, but it isn't as tasty and I wouldn't age the confit in oil the same way you can in animal fat.

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I like to use them to start a broth. After an hour or so, take the meat off the legs and put the bones back in to finish the broth.

The meat is great in chili or other stew type dishes.

The turkey broth will be very useful at Thanksgiving for making stuffing (baked separately, basted with the broth) and gravy.

Pamela Fanstill aka "PamelaF"
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With a thin, sharp knife, bone both legs and stuff with sausage meat. Wrap tightly in tin foil and chill to set the shape.

Put the foil-wrapped legs in a roasting pan and cook at 180C/350F for 45 minutes. Reduce temperature to 160C/320F and remove foil and cook for a further 30 minutes, straining off any juices for the gravy

Remove from the oven, let rest then slice. Yumm!

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Even after long cooking, it's hard to get those infernal bony tendons out of a turkey drumstick. If you cut off the ankle knob, you also cut through the tendons and have to yank them out with pliers. You can leave the knob on and strip off the meat from the top, but it's messy pulling it off from the tendons. And after it all, there's still lots of connective tissue and bits of meat that trail off into gristly ligaments.

Strangely, turkey wings, which look bony, have consistent texture and lots of wonderful, next-to-the-bone meat. Thighs are even easier.

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