Braised Turkey Legs
Martha offers a primer on turkey and shares her recipes for turkey 101, roasted turkey in parchment paper, braised turkey legs, and roasted rolled turkey breast with herbs, all sure to be year-round favorites.
Ingredients
- 2 turkey legs (from one 15 to 16 pound turkey), about 4 1/2 pounds
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 2 ribs celery, chopped
- 2 leeks, white and light-green parts only, sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch rounds
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme, plus 1 teaspoon chopped, for garnish
- 4 sprigs fresh sage
- 4 fresh bay leaves
- 3 cups homemade chicken stock or low-sodium canned chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
Method
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Rinse turkey legs and pat dry; season all over side 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 the bottom of the pot and slightly reduced, 2 minutes. Lower the 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 medium-low and add turkey legs, skin-side down; cover and transfer to oven. Cook for 40 minutes, turn turkey legs, uncover and continue cooking 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.
