Recipe Braised Turkey Parts

BRAISED TURKEY LEGS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
• Rinse turkey legs and pat dry; season all over with salt and pepper. Set aside.
• Heat a large Dutch oven over high heat and add olive oil. Add turkey legs, skin side down, working in batches, if necessary. Cook, turning, until turkey legs are browned on all sides, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer legs to a plate and discard all but 1 tablespoon of rendered fat from Dutch oven.
• Deglaze with white wine and cook, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pot and slightly reduced, 2 minutes. Lower heat to medium-high and add carrots, celery, and leeks to Dutch oven and cook, stirring, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add thyme, sage, bay leaves, and stock; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and add turkey legs, skin side down; cover and transfer to oven. Cook for 40 minutes. Uncover, turn turkey legs, and continue cooking uncovered until legs are tender, 45 to 50 minutes more.
• Transfer turkey legs to a serving platter. Skim fat from top of braising liquid and discard; season braising liquid with salt and pepper, and spoon over turkey legs. Serve garnished with chopped parsley and thyme.

BASIC BRAISED TURKEY

Steps:

• Put the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the turkey and brown the leg (and, if you're using them, wing) portions on the skin side well, 10 minutes or more; turn and cook for another 2 minutes on the skinless side. Remove to a plate and brown the breasts in the same skillet, again mostly on the skin side; remove and keep them separate.
• Heat the oven to 300, and cook the bacon or pancetta (if using) in the remaining fat in the skillet until nearly crisp; remove with a slotted spoon. Cook the onions, mushrooms, carrots, celery and herbs, in batches if necessary, until beginning to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer with the bacon or pancetta to a large roasting pan, then nestle the dark meat in there, leaving room for the breasts. Add stock or water to come about one-third to halfway up the sides of the thighs.
• Roast uncovered for about 90 minutes, checking occasionally to make sure liquid levels remain sufficiently high and stirring vegetables if they threaten to brown too much. When thigh meat is tender, place the breasts in the pan, and cook until tender, 30 to 45 minutes more, or until done. (They should register 155 on an instant-read thermometer.)
• Slice breast and thigh meat and serve on a platter with the vegetables garnished, if you like, with parsley.

HERB ROASTED AND BRAISED TURKEY

Steps:

• For the turkey: Remove the turkey from the refrigerator 1 hour before roasting.
• Combine the butter, parsley, rosemary, sage and thyme and in a food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Sprinkle the cavity of the turkey with salt and pepper and fill the cavity with half the carrots, celery and onions. Rub the entire turkey with the herb butter and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
• Put 4 cups of the chicken stock in a medium saucepan and keep warm over low heat.
• Place the remaining vegetables on the bottom of a large roasting pan. Put the turkey on top of the vegetables, put in the oven and roast until lightly golden brown, about 45 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and continue roasting, basting with the warm chicken stock every 15 minutes, 2 to 2 hours 15 minutes hours longer. (An instant-read thermometer inserted in the thigh should register 160 degrees F.)
• Remove the turkey from the oven, transfer to baking sheet, tent loosely with foil and let rest 30 minutes before slicing. Remove the legs for braising. Strain the drippings into a bowl and discard the solids. Add enough stock to make 4 cups liquid.
• Bring the liquid to a simmer, transfer to a roasting pan, add the legs, cover with foil and braise until tender in a 350 F degree oven about 1 hour.
• For the gravy: Melt the butter in a medium pan over high heat. Add the roasted garlic and cook for a minute. Whisk in the flour and cook until lightly golden brown. Slowly whisk the drippings into the flour mixture, bring to a boil and whisk until the mixture begins to thicken and the flour taste has been cooked out, about 5 minutes. Add a splash of the white wine if desired and cook for 1 minute longer. Fold in fresh herbs if desired and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

RECIPE: BRAISED TURKEY PARTS

Steps:

• In a large skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil. Add sausage, pancetta and as many thighs as will fit comfortably, skin side down; sprinkle thighs with salt and pepper. Brown all well. Remove pancetta first (it will brown first), then sausage; set aside. Turn thighs when they are well-browned and cook a minute or so on skinless side. Remove them too, and repeat with remaining thighs if necessary. Add breast to pan and brown it well, skin side down, then flip and cook for just a minute or so and remove. Set pan aside. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Soak porcinis in hot water to cover. In pan used for turkey, cook carrots, celery, onions, sage and shiitakes in leftover fat. When all -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Advertisement -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- vegetables are tender and beginning to brown, add drained porcini, reserving liquid. Return pancetta and sausage to pan. Cook another minute and turn off heat. In a large roasting pan, put thighs in corners, browned side up. (There should be room left for breasts all in one layer, but leave them out for now.) Fill space between thighs with vegetables. Add mushroom soaking liquid, leaving any sand and grit behind. Add stock or water as needed to come about halfway up sides of thighs. Put in oven and roast, uncovered, for 2 hours, checking occasionally to make sure liquid level remains sufficiently high and stirring vegetables if they threaten to brown too much. When thigh meat is tender, lay breasts on vegetables and cook until they are done, about a half hour longer. To serve, put vegetables on a platter; slice breasts and lay them on top; shred thigh meat and pile that on the rest

ROASTED AND BRAISED TURKEY WITH COGNAC GRAVY

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Remove the wings from the turkey and set aside on a baking sheet or large plate. Remove the legs and then separate the thighs from the drumsticks; place on the baking sheet. With kitchen scissors, cut along the ribs to remove the backbone from the turkey, leaving behind a full bone-in breast. (Alternatively, ask your butcher to cut the turkey into parts.)
• Sprinkle the wings, thighs and legs with salt and pepper on both sides. In a large braiser or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, brown the wings, legs and thighs until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and set aside.
• Add to the pan 4 tablespoons of the butter, the celery, leeks and onions, and 2 tablespoons of the chopped herbs. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables have softened, 5 minutes. Add the flour, stirring until completely incorporated. Pour in the cognac and 4 cups of the chicken stock and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Return the seared turkey parts to the pan, skin-side up, without submerging them completely in the liquid. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover and cook until the meat is tender and easily pulls away from the bone, about 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, rub the remaining 4 tablespoons butter over the skin of the turkey breast. Sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons chopped herbs and some salt and pepper. Place the breast on a rack over a roasting pan and transfer to the oven.
• Roast for 45 minutes. Add the remaining 4 cups chicken broth to the roasting pan and baste the turkey with the pan juices. Continue to roast, basting every 30 minutes and adding more chicken broth to the pan as needed, until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F, another 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove from the oven and transfer the breast to a cutting board. Let rest for 30 minutes, reserving pan juices.
• Remove the wings, legs and thighs from the braising liquid and arrange them on a serving platter. Carve the breast and arrange it on the platter alongside the turkey parts. Add the reserved turkey breast pan juices to the braising liquid in the braiser and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper, then strain the gravy and serve.

BRAISED TURKEY

Steps:

• In a large skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil. Add sausage, pancetta and as many thighs as will fit comfortably, skin side down; sprinkle thighs with salt and pepper. Brown all well, removing pancetta first (it will brown first), then sausage; set aside. Turn thighs when they are well browned and cook a minute or so on skinless side. Remove them, too, and repeat with remaining thighs if necessary. Add breast to pan and brown it well, skin side down, then flip and cook for just a minute or so and remove. Set pan aside.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Soak porcinis in hot water to cover. In pan used for turkey, cook carrots, celery, onions, sage and shiitakes in leftover fat. When all vegetables are tender and beginning to brown, add drained porcini, reserving liquid. Return pancetta and sausage to pan. Cook another minute and turn off heat.
• In a large roasting pan, put thighs in corners, browned side up; there should be room for breasts all in one layer. Fill space between thighs with vegetables; leave breasts out for now. Add mushroom soaking liquid, leaving any sand and grit behind. Add stock or water as needed to come about halfway up sides of thighs.
• Put in oven and roast, uncovered, for 2 hours, checking occasionally to make sure liquid level remains sufficiently high and stirring vegetables if they threaten to brown too much. When thigh meat is tender, lay breasts on vegetables and cook until they are done, about a half hour longer.
• To serve, put vegetables on a platter; slice breasts and lay them on top; shred thigh meat and pile that on the rest.

BRAISED DARK MEAT TURKEY

Steps:

• Generously salt and pepper the turkey.
• Clean and cut onion, carrots and celery into 1/2 inch dice.
• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large heavy skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown turkey pieces evenly all over. Cook in batches if necessary. Place browned turkey pieces in slow cooker.
• Reduce heat under skillet and add onion, carrots and celery, cook until tender.
• Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, until mixed.
• Add broth, vinegar, beer, and garlic cloves, stir until mixed.
• Pour vegetable mixture into slow cooker over turkey. Add rosemary sprigs.
• Cook on Low for 6 hours or High for 3-4 hours, until meat falls from bone easily when nudged with a fork. Remove rosemary sprigs. Debone meat and serve with sauce. Serve oil-cured olives on the side if desired.