Monday, November 29, 2010

Slow-Cooked Spiced Turkey Legs



I didn't take pictures as I was throwing this meal together and once it was on the plate, we were ready to eat so you'll have to excuse the ravaged looking turkey leg...here's what I did:


Ingredients
Turkey Legs and Wings (from the 15lb turkey who's breast I used in this recipe)*
2T. Red Curry Paste 
2T. Ground Cinnamon
1/2T. Sea Salt
1/2T Black Pepper
2T. Coconut Oil
2 Large Yams, quartered and cut into 1" cubes
1 cup Butternut Squash Puree** 
  1. Preheat oven to 350F, if using a dutch oven, or plug in your crock pot.
  2. Heat oil in a dutch oven, over medium-high heat.
  3. While oil is heating, smear meat (leave the skin on) with curry paste and season with 1T. cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Add the meat to the hot pan and brown on all sides (you may need to do this in batches, so that the meat doesn't steam).***
  4. Once the meat is browned, add the yams and butternut squash puree and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon. Cover with a lid and transfer to preheated oven. Cook for 3 hours, until meat begins to fall off the bone. 
*You could also use chicken legs and thighs for this "recipe". 
**You could also use canned pumpkin or another winter squash puree...I just had this in my fridge. 
***For a super easy meal, skip this step and just place all of the meat in the hot oil, add veggies on top, and cover. This could also be done in a crock pot...just throw it all in and cook according to manufacturer's instructions. 


I love the warm and spicy contrast of the turkey with the creamy sweetness of the yams...this meal greeted us after our garage workout last night and was just perfect! And, today's lunch leftovers...even better; the turkey just shreds apart and the mixture becomes almost like a warm and comforting ragu.

4 comments:

segrn88 said...

I'm sure you get this ALL the time, but how many servings does this make. In fact all of your recipes make (in particular the sides)? I live in a family of 5 (3 guys) so I want to make sure I have some for everyone with the (hopeful) potential for leftovers for lunch. Thanks in advanced! :) Love this site. After toying with going Paleo for the past few months you blog has got me convinced this is doable ... and tasty!!

jencereghino said...

It really just depends on your portion sizes...we are a family of two big eaters (I normally eat about 6oz of protein, Scott eats 8-10oz), so this particular recipe made enough for about 3 (one leg per person plus the wing meat for leftovers) large servings, or 5 "normal" servings.

As far as sides...this recipe can be easily adjusted to increase the sides, by simply adding more squash or yams to the pot/pan. For reference, I like to guesstimate about 1/2-3/4 of a yam per "normal" serving.

If you are using boneless, skinless thighs I would estimate an average of about 6oz per person, so about 60oz (about 3.75lbs of boneless meat) to get 10- 6oz servings. You'd want to increase this to about 5lbs total, if you're using bone-in chicken. And, it sounds like 4 (8, if you want to double the recipe) turkey legs would serve your family sufficiently.

This was one of those recipes that I created just using what I had on-hand, after the butcher sectioned out my turkey. So, if you're trying to replicate this for a group and don't just happen to have turkey legs hanging around...I would use chicken thighs or drumsticks.

I hope that helps! ~Jen

segrn88 said...

Jen,

This helped out a ton! I had a bit of trouble getting use to the taste of squash and sweet potato mix. But the next day paired it with some cauliflower and loved it. My family is real deep south- so sweet potatoes without loads of sugar and cabbage without loads of "insert mass amounts of animal fat" here- is unheard of. Going Paleo for us is .... hard to say the least. But your blog has helped.

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