Roasted Turkey Legs
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Back when I started making bone broth and thus needed to procure bones, this was the way I did it. Flashbacks to RenFest, anyone? Just don’t eat these in the middle of the day, unless you’re prepared for a three-hour turkey coma. I’m seriously considering using these as a sleep aid. All that aside, these make the perfect Thanksgiving entree for a small, no-muss-no-fuss evening with just a few people. Served with cranberry sauce on top and sides of sweet potatoes, asparagus, and a Waldorf-style green salad, you’ve got a simple and plenty-satisfying autoimmune protocol dinner.
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Roasted Turkey Legs
Ingredients
- 8 cups water
- 1/4 cup sea salt
- 1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 whole bay leaf
- 4 small turkey legs
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper omit for AIP
Instructions
- In a stockpot, combine the water, salt, vinegar, garlic, and bay leaf. Boil. Allow to cool, then chill completely in the fridge or freezer.
- When cold, add the turkey, cover, and chill overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 400F and combine the remaining ingredients.
- Rinse the turkey legs and pat them dry, then cover in the seasoning mix.
- Lay on a baking sheet and roast 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 300F and roast another 15-30 minutes, or until the turkey is cooked through. Cooking time will vary depending on how large your turkey legs are.
- To serve, wrap the bone-out side in aluminum foil, and prepare for a big, delicious mess.
While the brining instructions and temp settings were quite useful guidance, unfortunately this took FAR longer than 45-ish minutes to cook my 1.5lb bone-in leg. Next time I will probably increase the initial (400F) cook time to 30min, then turn the heat to 325/350F to finish.
The legs I use are definitely a lot lighter than that–I’ll add a note to plan the cooking time based on weight. Thanks for pointing that out, and I hope you enjoyed the meal!
How did it taste?