11 July 2020

Imagine turkey legs slow-cooked in red wine broth...

One standard item in supermarkets and on the outdoor markets all year long in France is the turkey leg. And when I say "leg" I mean the thigh + the drunstick. These are inexpensive and delicious. I'm not sure how widely available they are in the U.S. as a fresh product. I think you can get frozen turkey breasts, smoked turkey wings, and things like that, but are the legs and thighs widely available? Maybe you can ask the supermarket butcher for the legs.


I like to cook them in the slow cooker on low for as long as 12 hours. The one pictured above and below was one of three that I put into our six-liter mijoteuse ("simmerer") and cooked overnight. I season the turkey lightly with bay leaves, an onion, paprika, black pepper, a pinch of cloves, and of course some white wine.


These would be good cooked in red wine too, I find myself thinking all of a sudden. Whatever you do, don't add too much liquid to the pot. Use half water and half wine. The turkey will make its own broth as it cooks slowly at low temperature. The leg & thigh section here was the one on top in the pot, so it wasn't completely covered by the broth even after the cooking was finished. The skin looks lacquered, and the meat isn't boiled but steamed.


When the turkey legs are well-cooked, take them out of the broth, let them cool until you can comfortably handle them, and pull the meat off the bones with your fingers. Dispose of the cartilage, veins, and lumps of fat, as well the tiny, thin bones you'll find in the drumstick meat. Surtout, save the broth. Imagine what a good dinde au vin rouge — a version of the classic French coq au vin — you could make quickly with the rich red-wine broth, these nuggets of tender turkey meat, smoked pork-belly lardons, and sautéed mushrooms. Serve with pasta, steamed or mashed potatoes, or a green vegetable like petits pois or haricots verts.

8 comments:

  1. I have never cooked turkey in a red wine broth but we do have fresh turkey thighs and legs with and without bones and/or skin available all year around. I much prefer chicken and turkey thighs to breasts for flavor. What I envy you is being able to buy parts of duck (we can always buy frozen long island duckling but nothing else) and guinea hen.

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  2. I take that back a bit. We do not have turkey legs or thigh without bones and skin. But we have them with those things.

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  3. Did you seer them first, since you have that capability with your mijoteuse?

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    1. No, I didn't sear or brown them before they went into the mijoteuse. I find that meats that aren't completely submerged in liquid brown well in the cooker.

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    1. Yes. The next time I get turkey legs and thighs, I'll be making dinde au vin as I described.

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  5. So simple with a crock pot! I will check on availability here! Merci, Ken!
    Mary in Oregon

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    1. Good luck. I hope you can find them. I looked through the on-line shopping site of a supermarket in North Carolina and I saw wings, drumsticks, and breasts, either frozen or smoked and shrink-wrapped, but no fresh thighs. To my taste, the thigh is the best part of the bird.

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