Larded Turkey mallets

Larded Leg of venison, Mussels in tomato white wine broth, Penne Nere Rigate and Black garlic butter

Turkey mallets with black garlic and jolly mushrooms

For 5 persons

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Expenses: 18-25 Euro

Time Effort: 2-3 Hours

Preparation takes 0.5 – 1.0 hours

Tools

A sharp narrow knife – preferably a boning knife, a “Römertopf” (completely watered in advance for at least 0.5 hours!), gastro rubber gloves

Ingredients

For the Römertopf

A turkey leg with approx. 2,2 – 2,5 kg
20 whole cloves of black garlic or an equivalent amount as infusion (La Abuela Carmen)
2 packs breakfast bacon
1 soup green (leek, carrots, celery – finely diced & parsley in bunch)
1 large vegetable onion (eighths)
3 grains pimento
2 bay leaves
2 apples (sweet & juicy, diced)
0,2l water or vegetable broth
Salt (salt as needed, but beware also the bacon is already salty!)
Pepper (as needed)

For the pan

5-6 shallots (finely diced)
1 tbsp goose fat
1 tbsp sugar
1 bay leaves
6 large “Herb Seitlinge” [kind of oyster mushroom] (cleaned, halved & quartered lengthwise)
500g brown mushrooms (cleaned, quartered)
0,3l port wine
1 tbsp truffled butter

Preparation

Take the ingredients – especially the turkey leg – out of the fridge in time so that everything has reached room temperature as soon as it comes into use. If a “Römertopf” is available, it should be watered beforehand – to do this, the bowl and lid must be completely covered with water for at least 30 minutes in order to be able to degas properly. This guarantees that the meat remains juicy during cooking (if necessary, a casserole would also be possible, but then the meat in addition must be covered with aluminium foil).

Season the turkey leg with salt & pepper and then take the boner and the bowl with the cloves of black garlic (in our case La Abuela Carmen) to start larding.

For this, fine channels are cut into the meat with the boner and before the knife is pulled out again, use the flat side of the knife to let the garlic slide easily into the meat (if necessary, you can use a drop of olive oil to slide in easier).

Be careful not to prick too deep, maximum to the centre of the meat. If you have 20-25 garlic cloves – of course you can also divide them – evenly “sunk” into the meat, the meat is ready to cook.

Here we have additionally pushed black garlic directly under the skin – a little like a “duck in mourning”. With this speciality, fine slices of black truffle are over the entire surface sticked between the skin and the meat of the poultry, which has the effect that the prepared duck appears completely black – just like “in mourning” – although of course it is not “charred”.

Now please take the bacon and wrap the turkey leg with it so that the skin of the poultry can profit from the fat of the bacon.

Now prepare the Römertopf and switch the oven to 180°C (circulating air) – the Römertopf receives a “bed” of vegetables & herbs for the turkey leg, which consists of the chopped soup green & parsley, the divided vegetable onion and the apples.

In addition, there are laurel leaves, allspice and water, respectively vegetable broth – the turkey leg is embedded on it, the Römertopf gets its lid and moves for 1.5 – 2.0 hours into the oven.

After approx. 1 hour, a trained eye should check whether everything develops as desired. This is also the time to prepare the side dish – the tipsy mushrooms. For this purpose, please provide the previously cleaned “Herb Seitlinge” & mushrooms (Attention, only dry with a fine brush from the soil and remove impurities, never with the use of water).

Then fry the shallots with a little goose fat in the pan – as soon as they show a light brown, add the “Herb Seitlinge” & mushrooms. After 2-3 minutes add the sugar to the mixture so that the ingredients can caramelise easily and immediately add the last bay leaf. Then deglaze with the port wine and stir shortly before serving and add 1 tbsp truffled butter.

Now our turkey leg can be checked again. Ideally, the bacon has contracted crisply – in that case, put the bacon lid on a plate to the side and if the leg is not yet crisp enough you should move the Römertopf without lid at top heat briefly to “gratinate” – ready.

Arrange the slices of the turkey leg with the tipsy mushrooms and a few spoons from the “bed”.