These Turkey Confit Legs Taste Like Renaissance Fair
Hello friends and welcome back toWill It Sous Vide? , the column where I usually do whatever you want with my immersion circulator. In this week’s episode, we’re talking about turkey (because that’s all we food writers can talk about right now), specifically turkey legs.
Last year, trying to cook a whole turkey was full of minor flaws, but in the end we ended up with a truly juicy and tasty poultry. Since I can’t get away well enough alone – and since I am obsessed with gnawing on huge bird legs, paleo style – I decided to narrow my interests and see if I could lift a sous vide leg to even more exquisite, gastronomic heights. My goal was to do something sophisticated and sophisticated, but I ended up making an improved version of the legendary Renaissance turkey leg. (To be clear: I’m a big fan of them.)
My plan was simple, and the recipe was modeled after my favorite dish: duck confit . I started with the basic medicine, one cup of brown sugar and one cup of salt, with a teaspoon of garlic and pepper powder. I also threw in a couple of sprigs and leaves of fresh herbs, because Thanksgiving turkey won’t do without rosemary, sage, and thyme.
I then rubbed two giant emu-style legs with a salty mass, covered them with plastic wrap and left them in the refrigerator for 24 hours. I then rinsed the healing mixture off my feet, a process that was remarkably similar to many exfoliating treatments I have done on my own fleshy stems. I dabbed each leg with paper towels and then stuffed each into a half-pound duck fat bag.
The gorgeous scales then plunged into a 167 degree bath for 12 and 24 hours because I wanted to see if the extra half day would make a big difference, positively or negatively.
After the expiration of the time allotted to them. The legs were removed from the hot tub and left in the refrigerator overnight. This step was not completely necessary, but it was late evening and heating a giant pot of oil to 400 ℉ is not my idea for a relaxing action before bed.
The next morning, I took my legs out of the refrigerator, scraped off excess fat and collagen, and dipped my legs one by one into a real vat of harsh hot canola oil, and then disaster struck.
You see, in the classic “you know asshole” case with the connotation of “this is why you need to drink more coffee,” I overfilled my frying pan, causing hot oil to spill out the moment my leg was submerged. … Luckily, neither me nor my spaniel was injured in any way, although the spaniel did enjoy licking some turkey-flavored butter after things had calmed down. (Get the deep fat set up right, that’s what I’m saying, with a pot large enough to only half full with oil.) Despite my personal oil spill, my legs came out nicely and my skin was crunchy. after about five minutes of frying.
It’s time to taste yourself. Instead of using a knife and fork, I grabbed the leg’s natural handle and then with my teeth ripped the flesh from the bone. Then I repeated this with the other leg.
None of the legs were dry in any way, but (surprisingly) the 24 hour leg was noticeably more tender and juicy. The texture of both, however, was very different from the uncured sample of yesteryear, which was juicier but less aromatic. Although the meat was less moist, it was just as tender, but denser and silky, with a more concentrated meaty flavor. They were – for lack of a better term – jerky, almost like ham, and as someone who prefers ham to turkey, I was pleased.
Basically, these legs tasted like the ones I ate at Disneyland and at various rennes and other fairs. But unlike most of the turkey legs that can be obtained from these events, the skin was incredibly crispy and the meat was not dry. However, this was not a traditional Thanksgiving turkey. A friend of mine – let’s call him “Offclair” – found them too salty, but it’s worth noting that he is wrong and has never experienced the joy of wandering around Disney park with the leg of a dead bird in his hand. hand.
If you are looking for a turkey with a traditional flavor and texture, this is not the best option. But, if you’re looking for a flavorful, concentrated, meaty, somewhat intuitive turkey-eating experience, try the 24-hour cure followed by the 24-hour duck oil immersion followed by deep-frying. … You think my lady will be very pleased.