Servings: 6
Time: 8 hours for slow-cooking wild turkey leg
15 minutes for deviled eggs
Also works with pheasant, grouse, or chukar legs
One of the tougher cuts of meat, legs from a bird such as a wild turkey, pheasant, grouse, or chukar can be a challenge for chefs. Compared to the breast of the animal, the legs are a maze of connective tissue, tendons, and ligaments. The legs’ structural integrity, when prepared the same as other parts of the bird such as the breast, makes for a tough meal, so it is important to work with these differences and use them to your advantage when cooking.
I always use my wings and legs for different meals than the bird breasts. Bird breasts can be cooked quickly and turn out flavorful and tender. This is not true with the legs, so the majority of dishes I prepare from the legs are long, slow-cooked ones. The characteristics of the leg resulting in tough meat, such as the connective tissue and tendons, are the same characteristics that can add a tremendous amount of flavor to a dish.
For this deviled egg recipe, I placed an entire turkey leg into the crock pot, set it on high for six to eight hours, and let it slow-cook in water and some salt. The resulting meat was tender, incredibly flavorful, and perfect for use in a variety of dishes. Turkey legs provide a lot more meat than needed for the deviled eggs. I saved the leftovers and used them for sandwiches and soup.
These spicy wild game eggs are perfect for an appetizer at a dinner party, a brunch menu item, or even as the perfect afternoon snack.
Ingredients
- 6 eggs, hard-boiled
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 can chipotles in adobo sauce – need 1 tablespoon of the sauce and 2 peppers
- ½ – ¾ cups shredded wild turkey leg meat
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon coriander
- ½ teaspoon salt – or more if needed
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Add four cups of water and a tablespoon of salt to a crockpot. Set to high and add turkey leg, still on the bone, to the pot. Cover and let cook on high for six to eight hours.
- Once meat is thoroughly cooked and tender, allow to cool, and shred into bite-size pieces. This will provide more meat than needed for the deviled eggs, so be sure to save the extra for making a sandwich or adding to soup.
- Hard boil six large eggs. To reach hard-boiled, add the eggs to a medium-sized pot, cover with cold water to one inch above the eggs, and then set the heat to high. Once the water starts to boil, cover the eggs, remove from the heat, and allow to sit for 9 – 12 minutes. Place the eggs in cold water and allow to cool down.
- Once the eggs are cool enough to handle, peel and slice in half lengthwise. Scoop the yolk from the egg and place it in a medium-sized bowl.
- To the egg yolks in the bowl, add the sour cream and the adobo sauce. Cream together with a fork until smooth.
- Mince the chipotle peppers and add to the sour cream mixture.
- Stir in the shredded wild turkey meat, cinnamon, cumin, and coriander. Mix to thoroughly incorporate the spices.
- Taste and add the desired amount of salt.
- Place heaping spoonfuls of the chipotle wild turkey mixture back into the egg whites. Top with a fresh cilantro leaf.
- Dig in!
