Turkey wings

One of our local markets has started selling turkey wings. It's Intermarché, and it's funny, because the other big supermarket here, SuperU, sells chicken wings. We've been buying those for a few years now. Each supermarket sells one kind of wings, but not two.

I was happy to find turkey wings, and decided to try them. They're inexpensive (3.50€/kg). When I opened the package and examined the ones I bought, I realized they are just what I call the "flats" of the wing. That's the second joint — the part with two bones in it.

First cooking: 90 minutes

It makes sense, because the supermarkets also sell turkey for blanquette, and the part for stewing that way is the first wing section — what people call the "drumettes" when they talk about chicken wings. Actually, I prefer the flats to the drumettes. Both are nice white meat.

"Paint" the cooked wings (badigeonnez-les) with plum or other barbecue sauce.

Turkey wings (ailes de dinde) are a lot bigger than chicken wings (ailes de poulet) so they need longer cooking. The ones in the photos here were cooked for about 90 minutes, seasoned only with salt and pepper, on a rack in a 350ºF/180ºC oven. (Chicken wings cook in half that time.)

After 30 minutes longer in the oven and more basting

After the first cooking, I took the turkey wings out of the oven and painted them with plum sauce that I made a while back. You could use any barbecue sauce, but the plum sauce turned out to be really good. I put the wings back in the oven, lowering the temperature slightly, for about 30 minutes more. I turned them once or twice and basted them with more plum sauce.

These wings cooked in the oven, but on a grill might be even better.

They're messy to eat — you get sticky fingers — but they are delicious. They'd be really good cooked on a barbecue grill, I'm sure.