Things to do with turkey legs

Our reader Josephine has tipped us off that Dunnes are currently selling eight turkey legs for €5, and asks us if we have any idea how best to use them.

We’ve dug out a simple but fancy rustic old recipe from Italian cookery bible Silver Spoons, that would probably bring out the best flavours in the leg meat. It calls for a lot of fresh herbs.

If, like me, you don’t have an abundant herb garden, you’ll probably get away with using maybe three or four herbs (I’d be sure to use parsley, thyme, mint, rosemary). Or, you could also use small amounts of dried marjarom, thyme, and mint.

The great thing about this is you can use whatever amounts of herbs you’ve got, in quantities that suit your taste. You can’t go wrong.

Note: Three spoons of chopped fresh herbs = one spoon of dried herbs

Turkey Leg with Herbs

Serves Two

Ingredients

• 8 turkey legs
• 80g/30z butter
• Juice of half a lemon
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Parsley
• Tarragon
• Basil
• Mint
• Sage
• Marjoram

Instructions

• Finely chop the herbs
• Mix with about 50g of butter and the lemon juice in a bowl, season with salt and pepper
• Remove the skin from the turkey leg in one piece – and keep it
• Spread the herb butter over the leg, wrap it in its own skin, and tie with kitchen string
• Heat the olive oil and the remaining butter in the pan, add the turkey, and fry until browned
• Cover and cook over a low heat, adding a little hot water if necessary to keep it from drying out
• Carve and pour over its own juices

Serve with potatoes and vegetables.

I also think you could probably use them as a replacement for chicken legs in casseroles.  Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has a great sounding recipe for Turkey Legs Coq Au Vin on the BBC website.