With Thanksgiving upon us, ASG has been wanting an excuse to revisit something from our summer visits to both the LA County and Orange County Fairs - the Spicy Turkey Legs.
For many of us, cooking an entire turkey for Thanksgiving may be overkill. Stores understand this and they sell both the turkey breast on its own, or legs. It didn't take me long to find some legs, first Stater Bros I went to carried them right out on the line. That said, you may want to talk to your local butcher like we do and ask if they need to be special ordered.
Turkey legs do very well in the freezer, so this could be something you order and pull out when the timing is ready.
The Leg we are trying to replicate from the Fair is considered the 'spicy' version - just tasty all the way through. A layer of dried rub, then slowly cooked in its juices - we think we came close considering we are using the oven and not a smoker. (Those fairs are lucky to have all sorts of specialized equipment to cook consistently and en masse.)
If you're looking for a straight-forward, oven-focused recipe - read on!
PREP
Brining - After during our requisite research on turkey legs, and appreciating that it is not simple (folks, have I made that mistake a few times) - the key is to first brine the legs. You want to give enough time for this because it will make a world of difference. Turkey legs are thick, and giving that sufficient time for brining to make its way through is essential.
While you do the following, we like to get the legs dried off and salt and peppered for the 15m to do the following.
We brined with (per three medium sized turkey legs in a one gallon bag):
4 Cups of Filtered Water
1/2 Cup Kosher Salt
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon of Cracked Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon Black Peppercorns
4 Bay Leaves
4 Dried Chili
Definitely play with the aromatics and spices - there's probably something groundbreaking there.
Stir the water, salt, sugar, peppercorns, bay leaves and dried chili in a small sauce pot, bring to simmer. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
Carefully place your legs in a one gallon bag, then add the (cooled) brine. We like to then add cracked fresh pepper next. Seal and place in fridge for 4 to 6 hours minimum. (In our case, we went over night because of the timing.) We like to turn them over once or twice in the brining process.
DRY RUB
In preparation after the brine, you can mix your dry rub.
We like equal parts of: Cayenne Powder, Turmeric Powder, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Salt, Fresh Ground Pepper, Dried Thyme. Cover or place in bag for later use. For three legs, we found two tablespoons a piece was sufficient. We went a little less for turmeric and thyme.
COOK
While you start to prep, turn oven to 275 F and allow to come to temperature.
Drain your brine and discard. We like to place the legs on paper towels to dry while we get everything set up for the dry rub.
Next, set up your aluminum foil, we like to go individual for several reasons, because you can always take these to go or for a delicious lunch. We also like to cover the tip of the leg (the boney tip) with an individual strip of foil, this makes sure it does not prematurely brown, or worse, burn. [Now, we didn't see this until after, but layer a baking dish with celery and onions on the bottom is inspired - we will try this next time.]
Have your dry rub ready, along with a small bowl of olive oil (or melted butter).
Cover the tip with foil and you can use this as a handle while you prep the leg.
Rub your oil or butter over the dry-ish leg, then go quickly to the dry rub and just smother the entire leg with it.
Place this in the foil pocket and lightly close them up. Arrange them on a baking tray, alternating the thick parts along the row of legs.
When oven is at temperature, place your legs into the oven, middle rack, centered.
Allow to cook for 2.5 hours - use a meat thermometer to validate internal temperature of 165 F.
Uncover, drain juices, and re-spice rub as necessary.
Place back in oven, uncovered, to allow it to brown, 30 to 40 minutes.
Take out of oven and allow to rest before serving.
We were really happy with these results and look forward to experimenting in the future.
We don't necessarily have to go to a theme park or the fair to have one - with a bit of time and preparation, we can have these all year long!
Please explore more of our Thanksgiving review at allstreetsgourmand.com - thank you!
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