An elegant, delicious, and relatively easy special occasion dish.
This started out life as a Cook’s Illustrated recipe but I made it keto by using Swerve instead of sugar and creating a keto marmalade. This reduced net carbs by 125 grams and dropped 466 calories, not bad for an easy switch. You can always use sugar and regular orange marmalade, if that’s more your style.
Keto Sous Vide Turkey Leg Confit with Citrus-Mustard Sauce
6 servings // 706 calories, 36g fat, 76g protein, 10g net carbs
3 large onions (4¾ cups), cut into quarters
12 sprigs fresh thyme
2-1/2 tablespoons table salt for curing
4-1/2 teaspoons Swerve sweetener
1-1/2 teaspoons pepper
4 pounds bone-in turkey thighs
1 cup (7 oz.) duck fat
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic, divided
(Because of food safety concerns, do not use fresh garlic)
2 bay leaves, divided
1/2 cup keto orange marmalade (*recipe below)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3/4 teaspoon grated lime zest plus 2 tablespoons juice
1/4 teaspoon table salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
BEFORE YOU BEGIN: Start this recipe at least five days or up to 12 days before serving (almost all the time is hands-off).
TO CURE: Process onions, thyme sprigs, 2½ tablespoons salt, sugar, and pepper in food processor until finely chopped, about 20 seconds, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Spread one-third of mixture evenly in bottom of 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Arrange turkey thighs, skin side up, in single layer in dish. Spread remaining onion mixture evenly over thighs. Wrap dish tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 to 6 days (whatever is most convenient). Flip the thighs at least every day.
MAKE MARMALADE: Make the keto marmalade on one of the days the turkey is curing. Recipe below.
TO COOK: Using sous vide circulator, bring 4 inches (about 6 quarts) water to 158 degrees in 12-quart stockpot or similar-size heatproof container. Remove thighs from onion mixture and rinse well (if you don’t have a garbage disposal, do not allow onion pieces to go down drain). Pat thighs dry with paper towels.
BAGGING NOTE: Double-bag the turkey thighs to protect against seam failure, which will demand four 1-gallon zipper-lock freezer bags. If preferred, use a vacuum sealer and skip the double-bagging.
Bag #1–Fold back top of 1-gallon zipper-lock freezer bag. Place 2 thighs skin side up in single layer in bag. Add ½ cup fat, ¼ teaspoon granulated garlic, and 1 bay leaf. Seal bag, pressing out as much air as possible. Gently lower into prepared water bath until thighs are fully submerged, allowing air bubbles to rise to top of bag. Clip top corner of bag to side of container. Open 1 corner of zipper, release air bubbles, and reseal bag.
Bag #2–Repeat bagging, resealing, and clipping second zipper-lock bag with remaining thighs, plus remaining ½ cup fat, ¼ teaspoon granulated garlic, and bay leaf.
Cover container with plastic wrap and cook for at least 16 hours or up to 20 hours. Remove bags from water bath and let cool completely, about 1 hour. When cool, remove thighs from their bags, reserving cooking liquids.
BONE THE THIGHS: Flip one thigh, skin side down. Using tip of paring knife, cut along sides of thighbone, exposing bone. Carefully remove bone and any stray bits of cartilage. Flip thigh skin side up. Using sharp chef’s knife, slice thigh crosswise ¾ inch thick.
PREP FOR BROWNING: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 500 degrees. While oven heats, crumple 20-inch length of aluminum foil into loose ball. Uncrumple foil, place in rimmed baking sheet, and top with wire rack. Using tongs, gently transfer thighs, skin side up, to prepared wire rack, being careful not to tear delicate skin. Set aside.
MAKE SAUCE: Strain reserved cooking liquid through a fine-mesh strainer into large bowl. Working in batches, pour liquid into fat separator, letting liquid settle for 5 minutes before separating fat from turkey stock. (Alternatively, use bulb baster to extract turkey stock from beneath fat.) Transfer 4 teaspoons turkey stock to small bowl (refrigerate the rest for other uses); add marmalade; and microwave until mixture is fluid, about 30 seconds. Stir in mustard, lime zest and juice, salt, and cayenne. Transfer to a serving bowl.
BROWN THE THIGHS: Transfer thighs to oven and roast until well browned, 12 to 15 minutes.
SERVE: Transfer each thigh to a large serving platter, skin side up. Pass the sauce separately. Serve with Citrus Salad With Watercress, Dried Cranberries and Pecans and Whipped Cauliflower.
*Keto Orange Marmalade
4 half-cup servings // 16 calories, 0g fat, 0g protein, 4g net carbs
3/4–1 orange, peeled (about 16g)
2 cups water
1 cup granulated Swerve sweetener
2 tablespoons powdered gelatin
1-2 drops LorAnn orange flavoring oil (available on Amazon)
Using a vegetable peeler, and avoiding the white pith, peel an orange and cut the peels into 1-inch-long thin matchsticks.
Add orange peels to a medium sized sauce pan with two cups water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Then cool until the mixture is hot but no longer boiling.
Mix in Swerve and gelatin until dissolved. Taste. Add a drop of orange flavoring oil, if needed. Taste.
Put the marmalade into the refrigerator for an hour and a half until gelled.
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Will last up to one week.