Slow cooked turkey leg, pancetta, wild mushrooms and baby vegetables

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This warming turkey leg recipe from William Drabble flavours the turkey meat with a piquant Pommery mustard sauce. If you can't get Pommery, good quality wholegrain mustard will work just as well. Pancetta and mushrooms add a moreish taste to the slow-cooked turkey, which can be served with some creamy mash or enjoyed with wild rice or brown bread.

First published in 2015

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Turkey legs

Mustard sauce

  • 600ml of chicken stock, or turkey stock
  • 150ml of double cream
  • 2 tsp Pommery mustard, wholegrain

Carrots

Pancetta and wild mushrooms

Method

1
Put the oil and butter into a pan and heat until butter starts to foam
  • 50g of butter
  • 50ml of vegetable oil
2
Season the turkey leg and place into the pan skin side down, cook slowly until the skin starts to crisp up. Turn over and seal the other side until golden brown, remove from the pan and set aside
3
Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic to the pan and cook slowly for about 5 minutes, until they start to caramelise and turn golden brown
4
Drain off any excess fat and add the meat back to the pan along with the thyme and bay
5
Add the Madeira and reduce until it starts to glaze the meat and vegetables. This will take about 4-6 minutes
  • 300ml of Madeira, rich
6
Add the stock and bring to the boil
  • 1000ml of chicken stock, or turkey stock
7
Place a tight fitting lid on the pan and place in a pre-heated oven at 130°C for around 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until the leg bone just lifts out from meat
8
While the turkey is cooking, make your accompaniments. Cut the pancetta into lardons and put into a pan with enough cold water to cover
9
Heat gently to simmer, strain and rinse under cold water. Set aside on absorbent kitchen towel
10
Now fry the lardons in a little oil until they begin to brown. Remove from the pan and set aside. Sauté the mushrooms in the pancetta fat until lightly coloured. Add lardons back in with the mushrooms and remove from the heat
11
Next, make the sauce in a separate pan. Reduce the chicken stock down to approximately 150ml then add 150ml of double cream. Bring up to the boil, stir in the mustard and remove from the heat
  • 600ml of chicken stock, or turkey stock
  • 150ml of double cream
  • 2 tsp Pommery mustard, wholegrain
12
Prepare the new season baby carrots by gently scraping the skins off. Cook in water with a little salt and sugar until tender, around 3-5 minutes. Heat a small knob off butter in a pan and once foaming, add the carrot and toss to glaze
13
Remove the turkey from the oven. Take the legs out of the pan and set aside, pass the braising liquor through a fine strainer and reserve
14
Place the legs back into the empty pan with the skin side up. Cover again with the braising liquor
15
Put it back into the oven and baste it every 5 minutes until the sauce has reduced and glazed the meat, around 20-25 minutes
16
Remove from the oven and rest for 5 minutes before removing the bone. To serve, place some of the glazed turkey leg into a bowl and surround with the mustard sauce
17
Finally, sprinkle some mushrooms and pancetta over the top and some of the baby carrots

Beginning his career as an unpaid kitchen worker at the age of fourteen, William Drabble has steadily worked his way up to the position of Executive Chef at one of London's most prestigious hotels.

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