Slow Roasted Turkey Legs with Garlic and Herbs

There isn’t much I can say here about this recipe that would help you more than simply following the instructions, as it’s truly one of the easiest and most foolproof cooking techniques period, but especially for large-format meats and birds like turkey legs. The thing that will turn most people off of this recipe is the large amount of fat used– but rest assured that weeks after I’ve eaten the last of my stuffing, I’m still cooking with that leftover fat, a delicious cuvée of turkey, duck or chicken fat and olive oil infused with garlic and herbs. Kept in the fridge it’ll last half a lifetime (or a few months), and is perhaps in and of itself worth making this turkey for.

YIELD — 6-12 servings

Ingredients

• 4–5 lbs. Turkey legs (about 2 legs)

• 2 tablespoons kosher salt, plus more

• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar

• 2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper, plus more  

• 2 cups duck or chicken fat or olive oil 

• 2 cups olive oil 

• 2 heads garlic, halved crosswise to expose the cloves inside

• A few sprigs herbs, such as thyme, sage or oregano  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 275°. Combine 2 tablespoons salt, 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 2 teaspoons pepper in a small bowl. Place turkey in a large baking dish and season on both sides with the salt mixture. Let sit at least an hour, if not up to 24 hours (24 hours will reward you greatly with better texture and deeper flavor). 

2. Drain any liquid that’s come off the turkey and pat dry a little. Scatter garlic and herbs around the turkey and cover with duck fat and olive oil. Season again with salt and pepper (just like your pasta water should be seasoned, so should the fat you cook in) and cover with foil. 

3. Place in the oven and roast for three hours (at this point your turkey will be cooked through and mostly tender). Remove foil, use a spoon to baste some of the fat on top of the exposed parts of the turkey and continue roasting until the skin is a deep golden brown, another 45–60 minutes. 

4. Remove from oven and let cool slightly. To serve, of course you don’t need to do any carving– the bones will slip right out and the meat should effortlessly shred, not unlike slow cooked pork or short ribs– but an idea for serving is to pull the meat apart into large gorgeous chunks, spoon with a little of the fat and the hunks of caramelized garlic. 

DO AHEAD

Turkey can be seasoned 2 days ahead

Turkey can be roasted 3 days ahead– rewarm in a 275° oven until warmed through, 30–40 minutes.