Turkey Legs

[anaj06]

So, I bought turkey legs after thanksgiving with the rebates and sales that were out thinking I would figure out what to do with them. I need to get them out of my freezer and eaten....how do you ladies cook them?

[AndreaCA]

Personally, I would thaw them, throw them in a huge stock pot with onion, garlic, celery, peppercorns and bay leaves and boil for a few hours. Pull the meat out, strip it off the bone and then throw the bones back in the pot for several more hours, even overnight. In the meantime, dice up the meat and refrigerate.

After the bones have practically dissolved into the broth (a splash of vinegar in the stock water helps and doesn't affect taste), remove from heat and strain out all of the vegies and bones. Set the broth in the fridge overnight. In the morning, skim off all of the fat and discard (or mix it up with your dogs dry food). Now you have a really rich stock as a base for several recipes. Mine is usually "jello" by this point in time. Some ideas are:
turkey noodle soup
turkey pot pie
turkey rigatoni
turkey tacos (and freeze the broth for later use)

Basically, anything you would use chicken and/or chicken broth for, you can use the turkey broth in. I usually freeze my homemade broth in 2 cup portions in ziploc freezer bags. I lay the bags flat on a cookie sheet and this way they will stack up nicely in the freezer.

[josephrettig]

Thanks for the recipes.

[bali1228]

I would like to add, I use my turkey stock and shred turkey for a cream based chowder. I essentially make a cream corn chowder, and add shred dark meat turkey to it. It is so delicious!
-To start I rough chop some thick cut bacon, and stir-fry it in the bottom of my stock pot.
-I then add chopped celery and onions to the pot, and cook them in the drippings until the onions are translucent, and the celery is soft.
-Next add a couple of tablespoons of flour to the mix, and cook it up like a roux to remove the raw flour taste.
-Now add diced potatoes, and turkey stock and bring to a boil.
-Then add some half&half (if you prefer your chowder thinner, use whole milk) until you get the desired color and consistency, and stir until it starts to thicken.
-Finally, I add a can of creamed corn, and shred dark meat turkey, and salt and pepper to taste.

It's creamy, tasty, hearty, and if you have bacon leftover from breakfast, pretty cheap and easy. I serve it with saltine crackers, or if you wanted to make hush-puppies, they would go very well. Sort of like clam cakes and clam chowder, but minus the seafood LOL. I hope this helps, and that you enjoy it!