Turkey legs brined and braised

Before I started watching SortedFood videos I never heard of brining a piece of turkey meat. Brining is common here for pork, but nobody ever heard of brining turkey meat.

I bought 2 turkey legs from a butcher and suddenly came up with using the method of brining.
All ingredients were at hand, so I gave it a go. The meat has to stay in the brine for 8- 12 hours.

Turkey legs with pasta

The brining liquid recipe:
4 cups of water
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 Oranges
1 lemon
1 lime
10 Cardamom pods
6 Juniper berries
4 cloves
10 pepperkorns
1 tsp coriander seeds

cooking the legs:
2 tbsp coconut oil
dry rub with spices from South Africa  containing coriander, cumin, chilli, pepper, thyme, parsley, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, cardamom, caraway.......
salt
2 carrots
200 g celery
100 ml Noilly Prat
500 ml Chicken stock
2 tbsp cornstarch
add a couple of slices orange, lemon, lime from the brine to the sauce and cook them with the rest, then discard them before serving.

Brown the legs in hot coconut oil, add the veggies with some cornstarch and the fruit, deglaze the pan with the Vermouth and add the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cover the pot with a lid. Turn the legs every 20 min. Braising time is around 90 to 100 minutes.

The sauce has a wonderful slight fruity taste and is very aromatic due to the spices. Serve with rice or pasta.

When I cook turkey meat again, putting it in a brine first will always be my choice now.