I love summer barbecuing but get tired of hot dogs and hamburgers pretty quick. Not the bubby (boyfriend/hubby) he could eat hot dogs everyday. He is eating one right now. Lucky for me, I’m in charge of what gets cooked around here, I’m the kitchen boss. So when thinking about what to BBQ, I try to think outside the bun and recently decided on turkey.
Typically this giant bird is only consumed at holidays when an army of family comes over to try to help you eat it / take home the leftovers. But you can buy pieces of turkey at the groceries store, wrapped up ready to go in super convenient packages. I bought a set of drumsticks, which I never get to eat, because my dad has claimed both of them, every holiday, for my entire life, and on into infinity.
The first step is to create a brine for your turkey legs. Lay them in a dish deeper then the drumsticks and one cup at a time, cover the turkey with water, keeping track of how many cups you use. For every 2 cups of water add 1 tablespoon of salt. I used 7 cups of water and added 3.5 tbs of salt. Let the turkey sit in the brine in the fridge for at least a couple of hours, you could even do this the night before.
Because I wanted a quick and dirty mid-week dinner, without the hassle of mixing up a sauce and dealing with drippy BBQ flare ups, I used a dry rub to season the bird. Sprinkle the following spices all over your turkey and rub it in to the meat:
- Black pepper
- Cayenne pepper
- Garlic powder
- Celery seed
- Thyme
Place on the grill on a low setting for about 45 minutes, turning every 10 min or so. The skin should be nice and crispy and the juices run clear when you sick a knife into it. Now its time to eat turkey on the deck!
I paired this with homemade iced tea and a delicious Quinoa Salad from Karen at The Art of Doing Stuff. To cook the quinoa Karen uses “immersion method”, which works but involves an extra draining step. I use the “ratio method” which states for every 1/2 cup of quinoa : 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil together, turn to low and cover, simmer for 15 minuets, then fluff with a fork and you are ready to go.
tixeretne 
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