Monday, May 22, 2006

Not pretty, not at all




Sweet Jalapeño Mustard Turkey Thighs
Favorite Brand Name Slow Cooker Casseroles and More Copyright 2002

3 turkey thighs, skin removed I used 4
¾ cup honey mustard
½ cup orange juice
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 to 2 teaspoon jalapeño peppers, chopped I used 1 1/2 peppers, seeds and membranes removed
1 clove garlic, minced
½ teaspoon grated orange peel

Place turkey thighs in single layer in slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl. Pour mixture over turkey thighs. Cover and cook on LOW 5 to 6 hours. I think I only cooked these about 4 1/2 hours and they were almost overdone by my standards and I like poultry falling off the bone. I ended up glazing these with some honey mustard, honey and Worcestershire sauce.

Makes 6 servings. How can 3 thighs make 6 servings? Turkey thighs aren't that big - not the ones I used. I ate one and hubby ate three!
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This was truly the most unattractive dish I've made. Well-cooked poultry isn't easy on the eyes. Also, there's a problem with cooking meat in a crockpot, in that the meat releases it's juices and you don't end up with a thick sauce or glaze, just a liquid-y mess. The trade off is that the meat stays moister. Sometimes I'll reduce the sauce down or thicken it before serving but in this case I cooked the dish ahead of time and I didn't reserve enough of the liquid. Pure laziness on my part. So when I reheated this I added a honey mustard glaze and then some parsley, mostly for appearance purposes. It didn't help that the meat was practically falling off the bone - I could barely keep the thighs intact. However, the meat wasn't stringy. I think I was very close to ruining these - I like falling off the bone poultry but not stringy poultry.

I thought these turkey thighs were delicious. The flavor was subtle and there was no heat from the jalapeños really but these were quite tasty. Maybe I'm just sick of chicken but these seemed so much more flavorful than chicken thighs. I don't know if it was the recipe that made these good because I've never made turkey thighs before this. Only the small grocery store carries fresh turkey thighs in my area and I just discovered them. Maybe they were good in spite of the recipe. I really don't know about this recipe. At first I thought I wouldn't make these again but a day later I'm craving more. Hmmm. If anyone is brave enough to try this recipe, please let me know what you think.

Question of the Day: Do you cook turkey, besides ground turkey, very often?

5 comments:

DancesInGarden said...

I cook turkey often. Sometime skinless boneless breasts, sometimes roast a whole bone-in breast, sometimes a whole small turkey stuffed or unstuffed. I love turkey, and even more I love turkey soup! Now enough about that chicken, tell us about that pasta salad!

Anonymous said...

I don't really know why, but I never consider turkey except at Christmas and Thanksgiving. And I am not crazy about ground turkey, but my sister-in-law makes a killer turkey meatloaf, so I now make it.

Jan

Wanda said...

No, I don't cook turkey (other than ground)more than once or twice a year, either. I really haven't noticed turkey in the market except for drumsticks, and I don't like turkey drumsticks. because of those weird thin bone? strings through them. I haven't looked for turkey though, so maybe they do sell the thighs here. I don't know.
(Yes, Jan, I am STILL sitting at the computer and haven't left for town, yet.) ;/

Randi said...

Next time you might want to brown the thighs first before putting them in the crockpot. It might make them look a bit better.

ThursdayNext said...

I think turkey has a better taste than chicken. As much as I like turkey cutlets, there is no comparison to the taste of an entire roasted turkey. I wish I could do it more often. I could eat Thanksgiving dinner each night if I had to!