Turkey Confit

We "processed" the last of the turkeys and found that plunging them right away in hot (150 degree) water for 20 seconds or so make plucking the feathers a breeze. I was amazed at how much fat the females put on in the cold weather, at least a quarter inch all over. They were like the ducks you get at the store! The last tom didn't have much fat but he was huge. I could barely lift him and I am used to carrying forty lb. bags of feed. I did weigh his boneless breast...12lbs!!!Luckily I have been paying close attention to Georgia's stories about cooking class and was inspired to "confit" his giant legs. The question was whether to use duck fat or turkey fat, which would mean rendering the turkey fat. I decide to experiment and did it both ways. I salted the legs: a mixture of salt, garlic, onion, thyme, spices, and left them for 24 hrs in the fridge. I rinsed them off and put one batch in the crock pot completely submerged in duck fat. The other in the oven at 175 covered in turkey fat. They cooked for about eight hours. The meat was falling off the bones and I removed the bones and put the meat and the skin in quart ball jars and poured the clear strained fat to cover the meat. After making sure I got air bubbles out, I put the lids on and stuck them in the back of the fridge. It is supposed to keep for up to six months and improve with age.
We couldn't wait that long and ate it the next week for our all local dinner party. We found almost no difference in taste between the two. I heated up the meat, drained the fat off to saveit to use again. I sliced the skin in thin strips and cooked them under the broiler until they were brown and crisp. I made a blackberry Madeira sauce to go with the confit.

Here is the menu for our all local meal

Pate (made with turkey liver and heart)
Sweet potato crackers (made with sweet potatoes stored in basement)

Crustless Quiche (made with cream,eggs and spicy sausage from local dairy)

Turkey Confit

Sweet potato Latkes (made with sweet potatoes stored in basement and our own eggs)

Fried Green Tomatoes (sliced and frozen in September from local farmers' market)

Shredded Beets (our own picked that day)

Blackberry Souffle (made with our own eggs and blackberry sauce)