Confit Turkey Thighs

A delicious alternative to roast turkey, serving just a few people, these succulent confit turkey thighs have crispy skin and melt-in-your mouth meat.

Just a few months ago, I was looking for a roast pheasant recipe only to discover that, much like a whole turkey, if you roast a whole pheasant, you often end up overcooking the breast to get the thighs cooked. If you read my roast pheasant crown post, you know that I decided to separate the parts and cook them separately, choosing to confit the whole legs.

That’s because once you cook something with the confit method, you will want to confit all the things. Duck legs, pork belly, garlic, chicken gizzards, even tomatoes! I’ve cooked them all covered in oil or fat. I’ve even poached wild salmon in butter, which is essentially what the confit method is: Poaching something slowly in fat or oil.

So last Thanksgiving when I found myself with only three eaters to cook turkey dinner for, my thoughts, as per usual, turned to confit. I decided on turkey thighs because we do love the crispy skin and smaller joints like legs and wings don’t really have one big piece of skin to crisp up or, frankly, as much meat to share. 

I already bought my turkey thighs to repeat this dish for Thanksgiving this year and I can hardly wait. It’s that good! 

Confit Turkey Thighs

This recipe is easily doubled or trebled, if you have the right pot and enough duck fat. If you don't have duck fat, you can use another animal fat like goose fat, lard, or schmaltz (rendered chicken fat), or mild vegetable oils such as olive oil, canola oil or peanut oil. Keep in mind that some fats might change the flavor of the confit compared to the traditional duck fat method.

Ingredients

2 turkey thighs, bone-in, skin on – approx. weight = 1.87 lbs

Flakey sea salt – I like Maldon

Poultry seasoning

Freshly ground black pepper

2 bay leaves

Duck fat to cover in tightfitting pan or Dutch oven – I used 3 3/4 cups or 887ml

Method

Generously season the turkey thighs all over with the salt, poultry seasoning and black pepper in a shallow pan or casserole that will fit in your refrigerator. Tuck the bay leaves under the thighs and cover with cling film.

Refrigerate 24 hours or as many as 48 hours. 

When ready to confit the turkey thighs, preheat your oven to a slow 300°F or 150°C.  

Wipe the salt off gently with a paper towel and dry the thighs. Put them into a close-fitting oven safe pan or Dutch oven.  

Warm the duck fat gently if it is solidified.

Pour the duck fat over the turkey thighs to cover. They look like they are sticking out but there is a very thin layer of fat over the top. 

Bake at this gentle temperature for at least 3 hours. Remove from the oven and use a slotted spoon to put the thighs in a snug storage container with a lid. Pour the duck fat from the cooking pan over the thighs to cover. 

When chilled, the fat covering will protect the turkey thighs. 

These confit turkey thighs can be kept, carefully covered, in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them. As long as they are completely submerged in the duck fat and they are in an airtight container, they can last months. Confit is a great make-ahead dish.

To serve, bring the duck fat to room temperature and pour it off the turkey thighs. (Save it in a clean jar in the refrigerator for future use!)

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C. 

Brown the thighs skin side down in a hot pan. This just takes a few minutes.

Turn the thighs over and brown the other side. 

Bake the thighs, skin side up, in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. You can do this in an empty pan but last Thanksgiving, I popped them on top of the pan of stuffing since that needed to be baked as well. It was a good decision!

Baked and just out of the oven

To serve, remove the crispy skin and cut it into strips. Pull the turkey apart into large pieces. Discard the bones. Put the turkey in a serving bowl, surrounded by the skin so people can help themselves to both. 

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are acknowledging that not everyone has a crowd to cook for during the holidays. So, for those folks, we are sharing some holiday main courses with fewer diners in mind. Check out the links below. 

• Bacon-Wrapped Sirloin Tip Roast from Palatable Pastime
• Confit Turkey Thighs from Food Lust People Love
• Dry Brined Roast Turkey Breast from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Milk-Braised Pork Loin with Carrot Sauce from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Nawabi Mutton Biryani with Burani Boondi Raita from Sneha's Recipe
• Roasted Lemon, Herb & Lavender Spatchcocked Chicken from Culinary Cam
• Stuffed Pork Loin Roast from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Stuffed Turkey Breast with Gravy from Karen's Kitchen Stories

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Creamy Duck Liver Mousse

The perfect make-ahead appetizer for your holiday feast, this creamy duck liver mousse is flavorful and rich. Serve with sliced baguette and let guests dig in! 

I was practically skipping up to the cashier when I unexpectedly found duck liver in my local grocery store. Turns out they have it in the refrigerated section quite often so I don’t how I had missed it up till then. But I knew exactly what I wanted to make! 

One of my favorite party dishes from years past was a chicken liver pâté that was always popular and I was just imagining how much richer and more lovely one made with duck liver would be. 

I was not wrong! We really loved this. Processing the just-cooked liver with chilled duck fat made such a smooth and creamy mixture that I decided it deserved to be called mousse rather than plain old pâté! 

Creamy Duck Liver Mousse

If you can’t find duck liver, chicken liver can certainly be substituted. 

This makes two dishes of about 5 1/3 oz or 150g each. This recipe was adapted from one on the BBC Good Food website. bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/velvety-duck-liver-parfait 

Ingredients

For the mousse:

10 1/2 oz or 300g duck liver

1 cup or 240ml milk

2 tablespoons butter

1 shallot, finely sliced

1 garlic clove, sliced

1 1/2 teaspoons brandy

1 1/2 teaspoons port

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 1/2 oz or 100g duck fat, chilled

For the sealing the top:

1 3/4 oz or 50g duck fat or butter

For decoration:

1/2 teaspoon whole black or mixed peppercorns

Small sprigs fresh thyme

Method

In a small mixing bowl, soak the duck liver in the milk for an hour, refrigerated.

Drain and discard the milk. Cut away and discard any large sinews from the liver. It’s messy to do this but the only really successful way to make sure you remove all of the sinews is to grab the end of one with one hand and then press along the sinew with your other hand to separate it from the liver. Repeat till the sinews are all removed. 

Wash your hands with hot water and lots of soap and reward yourself with a tot from that bottle of brandy you have out for later in the recipe. You've earned it! Cut the liver up into big chunks. 

Heat the butter in a large frying pan, then gently fry the shallot and garlic for 3-4 mins until soft. 

Remove the shallot and garlic to a small bowl, leaving behind as much butter as possible. (I prop up one side of the pan so the butter will collect on the other side, then remove the shallot and garlic.)

Turn up the heat then fry the liver until just browned on all sides. It spits and spatters a lot so I recommend using a spatter guard. DO NOT cover the pan with a lid! We don’t want the liver to steam or cook through, just brown. 

Add the brandy and port then boil those off as quickly as possible. 

Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the liver to a plate. Season the liver generously with the salt and freshly ground black pepper and leave it to cool completely.

Tip the cooled liver into a food processor with the shallot, garlic and the cold duck fat, and blitz until smooth and creamy. 

Push the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl. 

Taste for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper, if necessary. Spoon into serving dishes or ramekins. Place in the refrigerator to set.

Once the mixture has set, make the topping. Gently melt the duck fat in a small pan or in a bowl in the microwave. 

Put the peppercorns and thyme on top the mousse to decorate and gently pour in the melted duck fat to cover. Leave to set in the fridge. 

Serve with slices of baguette for spreading. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing appetizers for your Thanksgiving feast. Many thanks to our host Amy from Amy’s Cooking Adventures. Check out all the links below. 

• Baby Corn Rumaki by Palatable Pastime
• Baked Brie with Dried Cranberries, Apples and Walnuts by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Charcuterie Bites Pumpkin Centerpiece by Our Good Life
• Cranberry-Chevre Twice Baked Potato Skins by Culinary Cam
• Creamy Duck Liver Mousse by Food Lust People Love
• Date and Walnut Bites by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Membrillo - Quince Paste with Manchego Cheese by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Mini Bread Cornucopia by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Mini Pumpkin Cheese Balls by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Mixed Vegetable Sliders by Sneha's Recipe

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Miso Honey Roasted Hasselback Sweet Potatoes

Salty and sweet, these Miso Honey Roasted Hasselback Sweet Potatoes are easy to make with loads of flavor. Serve them as a main with salad or as a side dish.

Growing up, the only sweet potatoes I ever ate were the candied ones with loads of Karo syrup and butter, baked till sticky for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I honestly don’t remember ever having them any other time of the year. 

As I got older and my sweet tooth diminished, I still baked those sweet potatoes for the holiday but with just a tiny sprinkling of brown sugar for color instead of all the syrup. The sweet potatoes were sweet enough on their own.

In fact, when it’s just my husband and I at home, one of our favorite meals is roasted whole sweet potatoes, served split open from end to end with a generous pat or three of butter inside, no sugar at all! 

I knew that if I wanted to add a sweet element to these roast sweet potatoes, I’d have to balance it with a savory element. The miso works beautifully here. 

Miso Honey Roasted Hasselback Sweet Potatoes

I give the ingredient amounts below for each sweet potato because you may want to roast one or seven or 15, depending on how many people you are feeding. 

Ingredients per person

1 sweet potato

Olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

2 teaspoons honey

1 teaspoon miso

For topping:

1 tablespoon roasted peanuts, chopped

Sprinkling chopped parsley

Method

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C.

Set your sweet potato between two large chopsticks (or the handles of two wooden spoons) and use a sharp knife to cut slices into the sweet potatoes without going all the way through. The chopsticks (or spoon handles) help make sure that you can’t cut all the way through! 

Put the sweet potatoes in your prepared baking pan and drizzle with olive oil. 

Roast in the preheated oven for 25 minutes, basting occasionally to encourage the sweet potatoes to open up as they cook. 

Meanwhile, add the butter, honey and miso to a microwaveable bowl and heat them briefly to melt the butter. Mix well. 

After the roasting time is up, remove from the oven and spoon over the butter mixture so it goes in between the slices. I also used a pastry brush to brush some on the skin. 

Return to the oven and roast for another 10 minutes or until a knife goes in easily, basting halfway through.

Sprinkle on the chopped peanuts and parsley to serve. 

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are celebrating National Sweet Potato Awareness Month. Many thanks to our host, Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out all the sweet potato recipe links below 

• Karen's Kitchen Stories: Beef and Sweet Potato Stir Fry 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili 
• Food Lust People Love: Miso Honey Roasted Hasselback Sweet Potatoes 
• Mayuri's Jikoni: Shakkariya Nu Shaak
• Culinary Cam: Spiced Sweet Potato-Red Lentil Stew 
• Sneha's Recipe: Sweet Potato Patties 
• Sid’s Sea Palm Cooking: Sweet Potato Sushi

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

Pin these Miso Honey Roasted

Hasselback Sweet Potatoes! 

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Roast Pheasant Crowns

Tender and succulent, roast pheasant crowns with their subtle gaminess is a delightful alternative to chicken or turkey for a holiday meal. Or any day really.

The first time I ever remember eating pheasant was at one my husband's company Christmas dinners, held in a restaurant in the Eiffel Tower. It was a lovely dressy affair that lasted all evening, starting with Champagne and ending several courses later with a delightful cheese selection. 

When the pheasant course was served, I was warned to be careful because, while the chefs make every effort to remove it, sometimes buckshot gets missed and it will break your teeth. I was told that finding shot was good because it meant you were eating much preferred wild pheasant, not farm raised. I did find one little ball of shot that night and one in the pheasant crowns I roasted for this post so yay! 

Crowning a pheasant is a simple way to present a beautifully cooked bird without the hassle of carving at the table. To crown a pheasant, we will simply remove the legs and wings (if any) from the carcass. Then we remove most of the back, leaving a base for the breast to sit on. The breasts can be brined and then roasted to perfection, without drying out.

The whole legs (thighs and drumsticks) are best cooked confit-style, that is to say, slow-baked covered with duck fat to keep make them tender. I’ll share that recipe in another post. 

Roast Pheasant Crowns

Start this recipe early in day you want to serve the pheasants, to allow time for brining, which is essential to ensure the birds don’t dry out while roasting. Older birds can brine for eight hours, younger ones need only four hours. This recipe is adapted from one on Hunter Angler Gardener Cook. 

Ingredients 

2 whole pheasants (Mine weighed 1.9 lbs or 867g and 1.8 lbs or 826g.)

4 cups or 946ml water

2 tablespoons fine sea salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 bay leaf

4 tablespoons softened butter

Drizzle olive oil for roasting pan

Streaky bacon to cover your pheasant crowns before baking

Method

Separate the whole legs (thigh and drumstick) from the rest of the pheasants. 

As mentioned above, pheasant thighs and legs can be roasted but they tend to dry out, despite brining, and are better cooked confit – baked slowly in duck fat. That will be a separate recipe for later so set them aside. 

Cut the back out, leaving a small piece across the top of the breasts. 

These backs can be seasoned and pan-fried or roasted and then simmered in water to make a flavorful stock. Or if you have a collection bag for items to make stock in the freezer, toss them in.

Make a brine by bringing the 1 cup or 240ml water, salt, bay leaf and sugar to a boil.

 

Boil until the salt and sugar have dissolved. Add in the rest of the water and let cool to room temperature then chill in the fridge. When it has cooled completely, pour it in a Ziploc bag with the pheasant crowns, making sure they are completely covered. 

Keep in the fridge for 4 to 8 hours. (See note just above the ingredient list.)

When you are ready to roast, take the crown bag out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to an hour. 

Preheat your oven to 450°F or 332°C. 

Drain the brine and rinse the crowns with cool water. Pat dry with paper towels.

As you can see, one of my pheasants had the skin relatively intact. The other, not so much. I've read that some hunters can't be bothered to pluck the birds carefully, so they just pull the feathers out roughly or the skin off altogether. 

These were purchased at the same time from the same game butcher so who knows why they were different!

Rub the crowns all over with the softened butter. 

Transfer them to a roasting pan lightly drizzled with olive oil, then cover the breasts with streaky bacon slices. Use however many you’d like. I recommend full coverage so you might also want to overlap them like I do. 

Roast for 12 minutes. Baste with pan juices then roast for 8-15 minutes more, depending on the size of the breasts and how you like your game cooked. I recommend using an instant read thermometer.

Pheasant, particularly the breast, can and should be served with a slight blush of pink to keep it juicy and prevent it from drying out. A properly cooked pheasant breast should have a target internal temperature of 155° to 160°F or 68° to 71°C so take them out of the oven before they reach that as they will continue to cook as they rest. 

Leave the crowns to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing the whole breast off each side of the crowns and serving.

Enjoy! 

It’s Sunday FunDay and today we are sharing recipes made with game or foraged items for a theme I called hunter/gatherer. Check out those recipes below! 

• Chili Cheeseburgers with Bison Chili from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Dried Rosemary from Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Momiji Tempura ;from Culinary Cam
• Pork Korma from Sneha's Recipe
• Roast Pheasant Crowns from Food Lust People Love
• Urban Foraged Stovetop Potpourri from Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Venison Tater Tot Shepherd's Pie from A Day in the Life on the Farm

 

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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