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BRAISED DARK MEAT TURKEY OVER EGG NOODLES

Dave's Dinners: A Fresh Approach To Home-Cooked Meals
by Dave Lieberman

Dark meat turkey is way underutilized even though it is so readily available, inexpensive, and delicious. Here, after cooking it for a while in a really tasty, savory stewing brew, it just falls apart and melds with the sauce to make the most amazing topping for egg noodles. And egg noodles are another one of my all-time favorites. My father used to make them almost every week and he would serve them with chicken soup.
Serves 6

Ingredients

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 to 5 pounds turkey wings and drumsticks
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 4 carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 4 celery stalks, bottoms and tips trimmed, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 6 ounces tomato paste
• 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 12 ounces ale or good lager beer
• 6 to 8 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
• 1 cup pitted oil-cured olives
• 2 large fresh rosemary sprigs
• Cooked egg noodles, for serving
 

Directions

Generously salt and pepper the turkey.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over high heat. Add the turkey wings and drumsticks and brown as evenly as possible all over. Do this in batches if necessary.

Once browned, remove the turkey from the pot.

Reduce the heat to medium-high, add the remaining oil, the onion, carrots, and celery, and cook until tender.

Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, until it is mixed in.

Then add all the remaining ingredients, except the olives and rosemary, and stir until everything is incorporated.

Bring to a simmer, then add the turkey back to the pot, along with the olives and rosemary, and bring to a simmer again.

Cook about 3 to 3½ hours, partially covered, over a low flame at a low simmer until the turkey meat falls off the bone easily with just a little nudge from a fork.

Remove the rosemary sprigs and serve over hot egg noodles.

Note:
Check occasionally during cooking to see if the turkey is getting too browned or dried where it is not submerged under the braising liquid. If so, stir into the liquid and continue cooking.