Cooked gently for hours in a blend of olive oil, herbs and lots of garlic, this turkey leg confit boasts mouthwateringly tender, flavorful meat. As a contrast, a quick broil at the end gives the legs crispy golden skin. Once it has flavored the meat, all the soft sweet garlic is used to make a delicious garlic confit gravy to serve with the turkey. Save the strained, flavor-infused oil and refrigerate it to use in another confit recipe (such as duck, fish or vegetables) or as the cooking oil for almost any dish.
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 18 hr 30 min |
| Active: | 1 hr |
| Yield: | 6 to 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 cups kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons thyme leaves, plus 6 sprigs
- 1/4 cup sage leaves, plus 2 sprigs
- 1/4 cup rosemary leaves, plus 2 sprigs
- 7 to 8 pounds bone-in skin-on turkey thighs and drumsticks (see Cook’s Note)
- 40 cloves peeled garlic
- 3 shallots, peeled
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 4 cups olive oil
- 3 to 5 cups vegetable oi
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups unsalted turkey or chicken broth (see Cook’s Note)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- For the turkey: The day before cooking the confit, salt the the turkey by combining the salt, thyme leaves, sage leaves and rosemary leaves in a food processor. Pulse until the herbs are chopped. (Alternatively, you can chop the herbs with a knife and rub them into the salt.) Spread half the salt mixture on the bottom of a large baking dish. Place the turkey pieces skin-side up on top and rub them all over with the salt underneath. Top the turkey pieces evenly with the remaining salt. Refrigerate for 12 hours.
- When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Thoroughly rinse the salt off the turkey pieces with water and pat them dry. Nestle the pieces in a large Dutch oven or pot, then add the garlic cloves, shallots, bay leaves, peppercorns and whole sprigs of thyme, sage and rosemary. Pour the olive oil into the pot, then add enough vegetable oil to just cover the turkey.
- Place the pot over medium heat and warm the oil until small bubbles come to the surface, about 5 minutes. Cover the pot and transfer it to the oven. Gently cook the turkey until very tender but not falling apart, about 4 hours. Uncover and let the turkey cool in the fat for about an hour. (If serving on another day, let cool completely, then transfer the pot with the turkey still in the fat to the refrigerator.)
- Remove the turkey pieces from the pot, letting any excess oil drip off, and place them skin-side up on a baking sheet. Strain most of the oil through a sieve, stopping just before reaching the turkey juices at the bottom; pour the turkey juices into a fat separator. (If you don’t have a fat separator, transfer the juices to a liquid measuring cup, let the fat rise to the surface and use a spoon to skim off the fat.) Reserve all the garlic cloves and one of the whole shallots and discard the remaining solids. (Be sure to save and refrigerate the oil, which can be used again for another confit or as a cooking oil.)
- For the gravy: Heat the butter and 2 tablespoons of the confit oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until the mixture is lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Gradually pour in the broth and reserved confit juices while whisking constantly. Remove the outer layer from the reserved shallot and add it to the pot along with all the garlic. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer until thickened and the flour has had a chance to cook, about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and carefully purée the gravy with an immersion blender or in a regular blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper if necessary (you might not need to add any salt).
- Meanwhile, broil the turkey: Preheat the broiler and set the rack about 6 inches from the heating element. Broil the turkey until the skin is nicely browned and crispy, 6 to 8 minutes, flipping the drumsticks and rotating the baking sheet as needed. Serve the turkey with the hot gravy on the side.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 1826 |
| Total Fat | 153 g |
| Saturated Fat | 28 g |
| Carbohydrates | 29 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 6 g |
| Sugar | 4 g |
| Protein | 85 g |
| Cholesterol | 402 mg |
| Sodium | 1756 mg |
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 1826 |
| Total Fat | 153 g |
| Saturated Fat | 28 g |
| Carbohydrates | 29 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 6 g |
| Sugar | 4 g |
| Protein | 85 g |
| Cholesterol | 402 mg |
| Sodium | 1756 mg |
Reviews
way too salty. I think you could cut it by 3/4 easily
I looked at a few other confit recipes before setting out to make this, and my primary concern after reading other recipes’ review is the level of salt. With this in mind, I used only half the amount of salt as called for by the recipe here to make the herbed salt. Granted I used regular salt and not kosher salt, but even by the conversion table that’s still quite a bit of reduction. I had 3.5lb of turkey, made the herbed salt with 1/2 cup of regular salt. After generously rubbing the turkey with salt, there was still about 2tbsp left. I decided not to top the turkey with the rest of the salt…because it really looked like enough salt. Glad I made that decision because the turkey was borderline too salty when it was done. The gravy was great, but completely unnecessary since the turkey was already quite salty. I would recommend this recipe although less salt and less marinate time would be better.
Great
I’m stewsyú