Cooking with turkey legs ||
At this time of year, as the nights draw in and the air cools, and life is busy with everyone's different school, work and sporting commitments, the slow cooker is my best friend. Throwing a few ingredients in to the pot in the morning, usually in under five minutes, and coming back to a hearty meal, that smells amazing as you come back through the door. From pot to table in minutes! At weekends, another favourite is slow cooking in the oven, as the legs cook in about three hours, so time for morning chores or a lovely Autumnal walk before lunch.
The brown meat of turkey legs is so full of flavour, and, more importantly, very forgiving! You can't really over cook them, and the work with so many different flavours and world cuisines.
The very simplest way to cook them is in a slow cooker or covered roasting pan in the oven, a few herbs and spices and some water or maybe pomegranate juice or cider for extra sweetness. The next up is cutting up some veg for more of an all-in-one casserole or traybake. Neither takes very long. As I say, turkey legs, are very forgiving so I'm pretty erratic with my spice additions. I am a sucker for BoTree Farm and Shorkk as their spices and herbs have such deep flavour. I always have oregano, paprika or chilli, ginger and cumin at hand, and Za'atar (a mix of herbs, sumac and sesame seeds - in fact this is all you need as it gives it a nice sharpness). And salt and pepper. Curry powders and spice mixes and are quick win. More traditional casserole recipes work well too. For the ultimate quick dinner, look out for tagine, curry and casserole mixes for slow cookers like the ones from Gordon Rhodes. Have fun experimenting!
Turkey legs can be roasted but we find they are best cooked low and slow, approximately 140-150 degrees, with some liquid, covered with a lid or foil, for 2.5-3 hours. In the slow cooker they can be on low all day.
Once cooked, the meat will fall off the bone, so it can be a bit messy at this stage as you pull out the bones but short pain for great gain! Turkey thighs are good for entertaining as you can give guests one each if they have good appetites.
This is just one of our favourite recipes. It is adapted from Meliz Berg's recipe with chicken thighs. We have made a few tweaks to the cooking times, but otherwise this is all of her wonderful flavour combinations. Super easy to put together and pop in the oven or slow cooker for a wholesome family meal.
Cypriot Turkey Tray Bake
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
500ml chicken or vegetable stock
2 tbsp tomato puree
6 tbsp olive oil
4 onions, peeled and quartered
750g Cyprus or Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and halved
2 large slow grown, high welfare turkey legs (or 4 x drums and thighs)
6 garlic cloves, peeled and bashed
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp paprika
¼ tsp pul biber
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cumin
¾ tsp salt
¾ tsp pepper
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley leaves
400g can chopped tomatoes
600ml cold water
3 bay leaves
1 unwaxed lemon, halved
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6.
Dissolve the stock cube and tomato puree in 500ml boiling water in a heatproof jug and leave to one side.
Drizzle two tablespoons of the olive oil into a deep baking tray, put in the oven to get hot. Then add the onions, potatoes, turkey and garlic to the tray. Sprinkle over the dried oregano, spices, salt, pepper and parsley. Give everything a gentle stir so that the chicken and vegetables are fully coated in the oily spices.
Pour the chopped tomatoes into the baking tray, then fill up the can with cold water; top up the dissolved stock and tomato puree with enough water from the can to take the total amount of liquid up to 700ml, give it a stir and pour this into the baking tray as well. Add the bay leaves and the lemon halves, drizzle over another three tablespoons of the olive oil (save a little for the last 30 minutes of cooking), cover with foil and place the baking tray on the bottom shelf of the oven. Reduce oven to 150C.
After an hour and a half, remove the baking tray from the oven, take off the foil, turn the chicken over, baste the potatoes and return to the oven without the foil. After another 30 minutes, remove again, turn the chicken over, basting the potatoes in the juices, drizzle everything with the remaining one tablespoon of olive oil and return to the oven for a final 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven, allow to rest for 10-20 minutes. You can removed the meat from the bones at this stage and leave in the dish to take to the table as a one pot. Serve with the thick basting juices and onions, accompanied by a fresh salad, rice and thick natural set yoghurt.