Cola Braised Turkey Wings

One of the local grocery stores has been selling turkey wings split. I just couldn't resist - pterodactyl wings, Fred Flinstone here I come. Anyway the price was good so I loaded up on them.

I tried them a few times on the grill. I thought they would cook similar to a chicken leg with the back attached. The were a bit tough off the grill. Tougher than when I have a roasted turkey.

I thought they would lend themselves to a slower cooking method. I also had some regular coke laying around. No one here drinks the stuff. The coke it should lend itself to some Asian seasonings.

Ingredients
2 turkey wing parts, 1 flat & 1 drumette
1 onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 celery, diced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 inch piece of ginger, grated
Chinese 5 spice blend
1 can coke
1/2 cup red wine
1/4  cup soy sauce
1 tbsp oil
Salt & Pepper


Season the wing pieces with salt & pepper and the 5 spice.
In a pot large enough to hold everything add the oil and heat on medium-high. Sear the turkey wings as best you can. They are very uneven and don't sear well. Remove and set aside.

Add the onion, carrot, celery, ginger and garlic to the pot and cook until the veggies are soft.

Return the turkey wings to the pot and add the coke, red wine and soy sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 hours or more.

After 2 hours remove the turkey wings and place on a grill pan. Strain the braising liquid through a sieve and return the liquid to the pot. Bring the liquid to a boil and reduce. Meanwhile place the turkey wings under the broiler to crisp the skin. About 10-15 minutes per side.

Enjoy!

After the broiler. A little too crisp maybe?

Served with fried cabbage and pan roasted potatoes, sauce on the side

Turkey Dinner for Two

Yes, we had the turkey dinner and there was only two of us there. There was probably enough food for eight, though.

The turkey was kept cool enough in the garage. There was still ice in the brine the next day. Here is a picture of the turkey in it's brine.

Doesn't look like much bit is s few hours it will be good eats. To get the best results avoid stuffing the bird. In order to cook a stuffed bird until the stuffing reaches the safe temperature of 160F the meat will have reached well beyond this temperature. As a result, dry meat.

Prepare some aromatics such as onion, apple, cinnamon stick, sage and rosemary in a microwave safe container with about 1 cup of water. Cook for 5 minutes in the microwave.

Take the bird out of the brine, rinse and pat dry. Rub the skin with oil and season with salt, pepper and granulated garlic. Put the aromatics in the cavity of the bird.

Now the fun part. Blast the turkey in the oven at 450F for 30 minutes. Then cover the breast, put in the temperature probe and cook until it reaches 175F. This is a little higher than recommended but I figure this compensates for sub-optimal placement of the probe.

This year we went with 4 vegetables - maple glazed carrots, roasted beets with balsamic & thyme, steamed broccoli, butternut squash with maple syrup.

We also had the usual mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy.

The carcass of the beast has already been made into a soup stock. Awaiting the creation of another soup!

Merry Christmas

And so... It Begins

The preparations are under way for Christmas Dinner.

I picked up the turkey from Aubrey's Meats yesterday, size 10lb. It is a bit of a gamble as to the size you get. I requested a smaller one but often the small ones go first.  The prize winning turkey was the 34lb bird behind the case.

I think, since we only have turkey once, maybe twice a year, let's go all out and have a good turkey. Although, this will be the third turkey for myself in 2010. Three meals out of 365 is still few enough to be considered a special meal.

This is the first time ordering a fresh free range turkey. I don't know about it's organic/inorganic status.Hopefully it will be worth the extra cash.

I brine the turkey for 24 hours before cooking it. The brine was prepared this morning and left to cool on the stove during the day. The brine follows the recipe from Alton Brown. Here is my brine this year:

4l organinc chicken broth
1c kosher salt
1/2c brown sugar
1tbsp peppercorns
1tbsp allspice berries
2tbsp candied ginger

Add all ingredients (the ginger should be finely chopped) to a large stock pot. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.

When you are ready to insert the turkey in the brine add 4l of iced water to the brine and then add the turkey. I use a large canning pot for this and store it in the garage. This time of year the garage is quite cool.

More on the turkey dinner later.