Catch & Cook – Wild Turkey Leg Birria
Eugene L. 05.13.24
I told you I would show you a way to cook up the legs of your wild turkey last time so here it is. I’m going to be using one whole leg of the wild turkey to make a delicious turkey leg birria. While the breasts are usually the stars of the show when it comes to turkeys. The legs are often overlooked with some hunters even wastefully leaving them behind on the carcass. While they can be tough due to a ton of connective tissue, slow-cooking them can make them very tender and flavorful.
Cooking Content on OutdoorHub
- Catch & Cook – Turkey Breast Schnitzel
- Catch & Cook – Pan Seared Mahi Fish Tacos
- Catch & Cook – Broiled Mahi Mahi Matecumbe
- Breaking it Down – Baked Garlic & Paprika Bluefish
- Breaking it Down: Whole Fried Dove
- Breaking it Down: Blackened Coosa River Striper
Wild Turkey Leg Birria Ingredients
- Turkey Leg – Thigh and Drum
- Tomatoes
- Onion
- Dried Ancho Chiles
- Dried Guajillo Chiles
- Garlic
- Ground Cumin
- Ground Cloves
- Bay Leaves
- Cinnamon
- Ground Black Pepper
- Whole Black Peppercorns
- Oregano (Mexican Oregano if you have it)
- Chicken Stock Powder or Cubes
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Oil
The first thing we want to do is make sure the drum and thigh are clean, so trim off any excess connective tissue near the joints. Pluck off any of those little hair-like feathers, and take off whatever skin might be left near the end of the drum. After the leg is trimmed and clean salt them well and put them to the side while we prep everything else.
Next, we are going to work on making the braising liquid for the turkey leg birria. Starting off with the dried peppers, open them up deseed them all, and give them a wash.
Then take the peppers, an onion, a couple of tomatoes, bay leaves, peppercorns, and a cinnamon stick and start boiling them in a small saucepan. Just put enough water to cover everything.
While the braising liquid base is boiling add some oil to a Dutch oven and start heating it on medium-high. Once the oil is hot start searing your turkey drum and thigh. You want to give them some color and then pull them from the heat, while you work on the braising liquid again.
Once everything has softened in the saucepan, pull the cinnamon stick from it. Then strain the rest of the solids from the boiling liquid. Make sure to keep the water when you strain. Add all the solids into a blender or food processor, and add in 1 cup of the saved boiling liquid. Then add in 6 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1 tsp oregano, 1/2 tbsp black pepper, 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar and 1 tbsp chicken powder. After all that is added into the blender, blend everything till smooth.
After you got everything blended smooth use a fine mesh sieve to strain out any bigger solids. Do this over the Dutch oven to add it directly to the turkey. After straining once I add another cup of the boiling liquid and the solids from the first strain back into the blender to blend one more time. After this strain it all again and toss whatever is left in the strainer.
Add in another 1/2 cup of water into the Dutch oven and store everything all together. Turn the heat on high until the braising liquid starts boiling. Then put the lid on and drop the heat down to low. You are going to let this simmer for the next 3 to 4 hours until the meat is tender and falls off the bone.
While you are waiting on the turkey leg birria to cook you can prep some of the toppings for your turkey leg birria tacos later.
Once the meat is fall apart tender pull the turkey drum and thigh from the consomé and start taking the meat off the bones and shredding it. While if this was beef we wouldn’t have to do all this, turkey legs have a lot of tough tendons in them that are inedible. So make sure to remove them at this step.
While the meat is out of the pot, raise the heat and start reducing the consomé a bit if you want it to be richer. You can also make final adjustments to taste here with salt and pepper. After the consomé is where you want it, add the shredded turkey back into it and you are done. You have made wild turkey leg birria.
You can eat it like normal beef birra, make some tacos, or just eat it straight out of a bowl with some cilantro, onions, and lime. I do need to note because the turkey is a much leaner meat than beef there is less fat on top of the consomé so if you want to dip your tortillas in before you fry them, the tortillas don’t get as crispy as they normally would.
Another great option is to make some birria ramen with it as well, this is really great for any leftovers especially when you don’t have enough to share with your wife.
