Turkey Leg Tacos with Manzano Chile Salsa

I may be one of the only people to go to the county fair and not order anything fried, but that doesn't mean I'm immune to the pleasures of fair foods.  Among them, the giant turkey legs always stood out as a winning dish - flavorful, slightly barbaric, and compared to everything around them, relatively healthy (at least insofar in that they resemble an actual food).

In the spirit of trying many things though, eating your way through a giant turkey leg can put a damper on your appetite, and the $14 pricetag they carried this year wasn't too appealing either.  But I started noticing a menu item that seemed to offer the best parts of the turkey leg experience in a lighter, cheaper form: turkey leg tacos.  I envisioned the smoky meat, rendered slightly crisp from its time on the grill, working its way into a taco in a way that embraced the Frankenstein-esque nature of the fair while still actually tasting good.

Sadly, what I ended up with were a couple of tacos with minuscule pieces of  turkey meat and more beans and salsa than anything else.  They tasted fine, but they didn't really deliver on what I thought this dish could be.

Luckily I remembered that my local grocery store carries pre-smoked turkey legs, so I set out to do this dish right.  I wanted to do something a little different with the salsa, so I used manzano chiles and took inspiration from this recipe.  Manzanos are a bit fruity and surprisingly hot, almost like a bigger habanero, so be warned that this salsa will burn - you may want to substitute for something else if you're not a fan of heat.  Either way, I think what I put together came closer to resembling the kind of turkey leg tacos I wish I had that day.

Turkey Leg Tacos with Manzano Chile Salsa


1 smoked turkey leg
1 manzano chile pepper
2 roma tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
1/2 white onion, finely diced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 lime
1 tsp olive oil
2 tbsp vegetable oil
6 corn tortillas

Line a baking sheet with foil.  Cut the tomatoes in half and place on sheet, along with halved and seeded manzano chile and garlic cloves (you can leave the skin on).  Broil for 5-10 minutes or until skins of peppers and tomatoes start to blister and juices run.  Remove skins from garlic cloves, and add broiled ingredients to a blender along with olive oil, lime juice, and 1/4 cup diced onion.  Blend until smooth and set aside.  Mix remaining onion with cilantro and set aside.

Remove meat from turkey leg and chop into bite-size pieces.  Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and add turkey when oil is hot.  Cook for 2-3 minutes until meat starts to caramelize, then remove from heat.

Toast tortillas in a pan or over a direct flame, then top with turkey meat, salsa, and onion/cilantro mixture.  Serve immediately.