Turkey is seeing a resurgence. No longer is it delegated to holidays. With its mixture of dark, nutrient-rich meat while staying pretty lean, it’s a great way to roast something healthy without ending up with heaps of oily fat in the braising sauce. And if you’re ever concerned about the quality of pork on grocery shelves, turkey is an affordable alternative with more flavour than chicken.
This recipe was sponsored by the Turkey Farmers of Quebec, but since I don’t eat pork, turkey was already my go-to leaner meat when I needed a pork replacement or wanted something more flavourful than chicken thighs.
This recipe works great in a slow-cooker, pressure cooker or multi-cooker and it’s great barbecued, too. Here, I’ve braised it so it’s fall-apart tender.
You can use a bone-in turkey breast or thigh – any pieces, really, depending on how lean you want it. I tried it with both breast and thigh, and I prefer the full thigh so I can eat the drumstick meat Fred Flinstone-style… (Either way, use the bone to make stock afterwards, if you’re a stock-maker.)
The star anise and tiny bit of sugar in the recipe trick you into thinking this is a high-sugar dish, bringing out the natural sweetness of the turkey.
Sweet and Sour Turkey with Star Anise
1 bone-in turkey double breast or leg (thigh and drumstick), with or without skin, but with skin if you want to broil it at the end for a crispy result
1 tsp oil
2 tsp sea salt
2 cups chicken or turkey stock
1 tbsp honey or cane or palm sugar
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 bay leaf
A few branches each of fresh rosemary, thyme or oregano, optional
3 points of star anise
5 whole black peppercorns
If keeping the skin on: Pierce the skin of the turkey (not through to the meat), sprinkle it with half the salt and sear it over a medium heat pan with a little oil to render some of the fat underneath if desired. This should take about 10 minutes to sear it all over.
Drain off the fat through cheesecloth into a clean jar if you want to use the fat later and place the turkey in an 8″x8″ casserole or roasting dish.
If there’s no skin, just sear the meat all over and place it in the 8″x8″ casserole or roasting dish.
Bring the remaining ingredients (with the rest of the salt) to a boil in the skillet or a small saucepan and pour over the turkey.
Place a rack on the bottom of your oven and one on the top (if you’re broiling the skin after). Cover the baking dish with a lid or tightly with aluminium foil and bake at 300˚F for 1 hour for turkey breast and 1 hour and 20 minutes for leg or thigh. Remove the the aluminium foil and insert a meat thermometre. Turkey breast should be 157˚F and leg should be 165˚F. If you want crispy skin, you can get away with slightly less than this because now’s when you need to remove the turkey from the casserole and place it on a rack on a baking sheet and place it under the broiler on low or high until it’s golden brown, about 3-5 minutes.
Serve with some of the juices, then let the juices sit overnight. You can scrape off any fat the next day that has cooled on top if you don’t want it.
Serve with mashed potatoes, rice and vegetables or whatever you want. I made a spiced potato dish from the cookbook Cuisine Botanique by Stephanie Audet, because I thought the cinnamon in them would pair well with the star anise in the turkey. It’s nice when things work out as you plan.
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