Other than my recipe for braising, then smoking turkey wings, this is my favorite turkey wings recipe.
I first saw a recipe like this one in Calvin Schwabe’s awesome book Unmentionable Cuisine
, which has become a cult favorite in adventurous gastronomic circles. His recipe calls for the last digit of the turkey wing, which, well, is hardly worth it to my mind. The first two digits, however, are well worth the effort.
If you’ve ever had a salade Niçoise, you’ll see echoes of that famous dish in this one: olives, capers, tomato, tarragon. It’s a lovely meal, and a great way to work with an unloved part of the turkey.
This recipe will work with both wild turkey and store-bought turkey wings. If you happen to have an old gobbler, it might take an extra hour for the wings to get tender. Be patient if that happens: The wings will get tender, eventually.
Figure on two wing pieces per person, unless you are serving lots of other things, and in that case you could get away with one drumette per person.
I love this with meaty turkey wings, but you can of course do this with either turkey breast or the wings from chickens or a whole rabbit. Don't use the legs or thighs of turkeys, though, as they are a dark meat that doesn't work as well with this recipe.
- 2 tablespoons turkey fat or butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Wings from 2 turkeys, separated (8 pieces)
- Salt
- ¾ pound button mushrooms, sliced
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
- I teaspoon chopped fresh sage
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
- 1 ½ cup diced tomatoes
- 1 cup white wine
- 18 to 24 black olives, sliced
- 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
- Heat the fat in a large, heavy lidded pot. Brown the turkey wings in this over medium-high heat. Take your time on this, and get some good browning. Salt them as they cook. Set aside pieces as they brown in a bowl.
- When the turkey has browned, add the button mushrooms and sliced onion and brown them; add some more fat or oil if you want. Salt them as they cook.
- When the onion and mushrooms are nicely browned, return the turkey wings to the pot and add the thyme, rosemary, sage, bay, garlic, tomatoes, and wine. Scrape up any browned bits stuck on the bottom of the pot with wooden spoon. Cover the pot and simmer very gently for 2 hours.
- Check the pot after about 1 hour, and add water if needed; you want the wings to braise, not be in a stew.
- When the wings are nearly done, add the olives and cook for another 5 minutes. Mix in the tarragon and parsley and serve with crusty bread, rice, or potatoes.
More Turkey Recipes
You can find all sorts of wild turkey recipes, as well as recipes for other upland birds, right here on Hunter Angler Gardener Cook!
My family and I greatly enjoyed this recipe. I had a few packages of frozen turkey wings around I had intended to smoke but this recipe popped up.
Overall a great flavored dish, rich and delicious. Definitely use fresh tarragon as it really pops. My only improvement would be to pull the wings and brown them under a broiler for a little bit just before serving. The skin gets pasty and soft as it cooks and a quick broil returns the color and give just a touch of texture back. Don’t overdo it as the softness of the meat is key.
Bravo Hank.