Roasted Turkey Leg, moist and tender meat to serve at a festive table on holy holidays. The divine smell will take you back to your childhood.
With the winter holidays coming up, I remember all the traditions from my childhood, my big family, and my sweet home. On these holidays we want the most to return those moments, full of sincerity and with a lot of joy around. Probably because we were very happy then, weren’t we?
Since I got married, I have been trying to create certain culinary traditions for the holiday diner in my family, and one of them is turkey for Christmas. Surely turkey recipe for Thanksgiving or Christmas is not a news, but the first reason I lead is that it is dietary, light and if you cook it correctly – very tasty meat. The idea of cooking the whole turkey, even for the holiday table never tempted me. The main reason why I avoid cooking the whole turkey is that it is too big and too many leftovers remain especially if you don’t have many guests around the table. Making sandwiches for about 3-4 days with turkey leftovers is not about me. Also, everybody including kids does not prefer lean turkey breasts. So rather than roasting whole poultry, I opt for legs or wings.
My people really like turkey meat and I cook it quite often. Just try our Grilled turkey kabobs, Turkey breast in a parmesan crust, Cracked out turkey pinwheels. The meat on the bone is the finest! That’s why for these holy holidays table I choose to roast turkey legs. Nothing could compare to the crazy-delicious smell of roasted turkey. This is an absolutely delicious and finger-linking recipe. This goodness is prepared easily and quickly than the whole turkey.
How do you make Turkey marinade?
For today’s recipe, I opted for 4 thighs of about 1 kg each (don’t forget that the bones weigh a lot). 4 legs will be enough to feed about 6 people, especially if the meat will be paired with a hearty side dish and/or salad.
For the marinade you will need:
Yellow mustard – 1 tablespoon
Whole grain mustard – 1 tablespoon
Ground coriander – 1 teaspoon
Old Bay seasoning – 1 teaspoon
Fresh orange juice – 2 tablespoon
Garlic – 4 cloves
Bay leaves – 2
Cloves – 5-6
Olive oil – 2 tablespoon
Thoroughly clean the legs. Wash them and pat dry with paper towels. Transfer legs in a large mixing bowl. Then season the thighs with salt, pepper, ground coriander, and Old Bay seasoning. Go for pepper mix as it is more flavorful. I just adore Old Bay seasoning for poultry. So, every time I am roasting chicken or turkey I add some to marinade. Ground coriander is also a spice that almost never missed from my marinade recipe – even if it’s not listed in the recipe I can’t ignore it.
As I told in my previous recipe for turkey marinade, meat needs acidity to soften. This time I have used two types of mustard – yellow and whole grain mustard. Also, I have added a touch of orange, squeezing some fresh juice. For more aroma I have added some cloves, these will give a touch of winter and spice. And garlic, in combination with mustard ive it a special delicious and unique taste.
This combination of ingredients will result in juicy and very fragrant roasted turkey legs.
Undoubtedly, the longer the meat will stay in the marinade, the softer and fragrant it will come out when baked. Anyway if you are in the lock of time then do not send the meat to the refrigerator. Leave it at least for 30 – 60 minutes at room temperature.
If the meat was marinated in the fridge then before baking, remove it from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for about 2 hours.
How long do you bake turkey legs?
When roasting turkey legs is very important to choose the right temperature, not to over dry meat or worse to serve it raw. If baked correctly you will get crispy-skinned to perfection turkey legs with succulent and velvety-tender meat. Before I got the ideal recipe, I managed to spoil some legs. The easiest method turned out to be using a baking sleeve. A bonus in addition to delicious and tender meat is gravy that runs naturally during cooking. The flavors of the marinade enhance even more the meat during the roasting.
So, preheat the oven to 350 °F. Transfer turkey legs into the baking sleeve. Optional you can add one whole peeled carrot and one onion. Close hermetic the sleeve and arrange it on the tray. Send it to the preheated oven for about 1 – 1 1/2 hours. Once the time passed and you see legs lightly browned cut gently the top of the sleeve so the meat juice does not knock over. Raise the temperature to 400 °F and bake for 10 minutes more.
Remove meat from the oven and let it rest in the pan for about 15 minutes. Any meat needs some minutes to rest, during this time the muscle fibers relax and their juices are redistributed, increasing the fragility of the meat. Separate the meat of the bone and pour over it the gravy from the sleeve. Serve paired with light Spinach casserole, fluffy Mashed potatoes, or even better fragrant Celery root puree. For more ideas of tasty and healthy side dishes check here.
Roasted Turkey Legs
Equipment
- baking sleeve
Ingredients
- 4 turkey legs
- 1 tbsp yellow mustard
- 1 tbsp whole grain mustard
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
- 2 tbsp orange juice fresh-squeezed
- 4 garlic cloves
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/6 tsp pepper mix
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Thoroughly clean the legs. Wash them and pat dry with paper towels. Transfer legs in a large mixing bowl. Then season the thighs with salt, pepper, ground coriander, and Old Bay seasoning. Add yellow and whole grain mustard, cloves, bay leaves, and fresh orange juice.
- Leave it at least for 30 - 60 minutes at room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Transfer turkey legs into the baking sleeve. Optional you can add one whole peeled carrot and one onion. Close hermetic the sleeve and arrange it on the tray. Send it to the preheated oven for about 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Once the time passed and you see legs lightly browned cut gently the top of the sleeve so the meat juice does not knock over. Raise the temperature to 400 °F and bake for 10 minutes more.
- Remove meat from the oven and let it rest in the pan for about 15 minutes. Any meat needs some minutes to rest, during this time the muscle fibers relax and their juices are redistributed, increasing the fragility of the meat. Separate the meat of the bone and pour over it the gravy from the sleeve.
- Serve with pleasure paired with a favorite side dish.
