Rinse the legs and pat dry. Mince the herbs and garlic and mix them into the salt. If so moved, blend salt and herbs in a food processor first to more thoroughly distribute the flavors. Put the legs into a nonreactive container (a Pyrex baking dish works well) and rub all over with the salt, covering all surfaces of the meat. Cover the container and refrigerate for 12 hours.
Preheat the oven to 180˚ F. Rinse off the cure and dry the legs well. Put them into a deep, nonreactive baking dish. Heat the duck fat until just liquid and pour over the legs to completely cover them. Place the covered vessel in the oven and cook for 10 hours. Carefully remove the legs from the fat and pour the fat through a strainer, taking care not to include any of the juices at the bottom. Those juices make a wonderful addition to gravy or stuffing, so don’t discard them. If serving within a day or two, store meat and fat separately, otherwise put the legs into a container that just holds them and pour the strained fat back over them to cover completely. Submerged in fat, they will keep for months in the fridge. The fat can be reused several times before it gets too salty, at which point it can be used as an ultra-luxe substitute for butter.
To serve, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Put the confited legs skin-side down in a deep skillet on medium heat and cook until the skin becomes super-crisp. A gentle weight, like the lid from a smaller pan, can help maximize the surface area of skin in contact with the pan. Once thoroughly crisp, drain excess fat and move the skillet to the oven until the legs are heated through. Shred the meat from the bone, and cut the crisp skin into as many pieces as there are people. Place some shredded meat on a disc of sweet potato and top with a piece of skin.
As for the breasts, brine them. They tend to dry out, and brine will keep them moist and impart lots of flavor. Make a five percent brine by dissolving 50 grams of salt per liter of water (or about 2 tablespoons per 2½ cups) and then add some smashed garlic, cracked pepper, a few cracked juniper berries, herbs (thyme, rosemary, a couple of bay leaves) and put the meat in the brine, weighing it down so it stays submerged. Put it in the fridge for a day or two, then remove the meat and pat it dry. From here, the two best choices are smoking or roasting. For a nicer presentation and more even cooking, tie the two breasts like roasts. Smoke or roast them until they reach an internal temperature of 160˚ F, then rest them for a few minutes before slicing. Either way you prepare them, they will be very happy on some cabbage braised with white wine and cider vinegar.
SWEET POTATO GRATIN
This is kind of halfway between a gratin and a confit, and results in meltingly tender discs of tuber that complement the richness of the turkey legs.
Sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into enough three-quarter inch rounds to
allow one per person
Heavy cream (or half-and-half)
5-spice powder
salt
black pepper
Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Place the sweet potato rounds at the bottom of a baking dish that can hold them all in a single layer crowded together tightly. Pour cream over the rounds just to cover, and sprinkle them with a pinch each of 5-spice, salt, and pepper. Bake them until the cream has all but evaporated.
SUMAC-CRANBERRY REDUCTION
Sumac is an excellent local substitute for citrus, and is used widely in the Middle East as a spice. This sauce is a slightly more elegant take on cranberry sauce, and acts as a good foil for the rich food. Staghorn sumac is ubiquitous in this region, especially on roadsides and vacant lots; the fruit looks like fuzzy red torches about six inches long. Poison sumac looks completely different. Consult an expert or search the Internet for photos to help with identification.
3 sumac panicles
8 oz. bag cranberries
½ cup local maple syrup or honey
Rinse the sumac and break the panicles apart, discarding the woody stems. Put the fruit into a blender 2/3 full of cold water (about 3 cups) and blend for 30-60 seconds. Pour mixture into a container and refrigerate overnight. The next day, strain the liquid into a saucepan on medium heat and add the cranberries. Simmer uncovered until the berries have all burst and the liquid begins to reduce, then strain the sauce into another pan, pushing gently on the solids to release more juice. Add syrup and/or honey. Continue to reduce until the sauce coats a spoon, adding more sweetener if desired, then keep warm until serving. Spoon sauce around the confit and sweet potato.