Smoked Turkey Confit Carnitas Salad with Orange Vinaigrette Recipe

by Bob Vincent

This is adapted from a recipe from Chef Magazine in 2009. It is from the National Turkey Federation. The original cooked the thighs in oil only; confit style. The original used Mesclun for greens. I used an organic spring mix instead. I added the smoking with cherry and mesquite chunks as first cooking step. I used 3 ounces of cherry and 1 ounce of mesquite. Since mesquite is very strong and can result in bitterness if too much is used I cut back on it. The original called for removing the meat from the bone. I opted to leave bones on as it adds to the flavor during smoking in my opinion. The original used tangerine for the vinaigrette. I used orange instead. I also added cilantro and grape tomatoes to the recipe.

If you can afford it using duck leg quarters and duck fat for the confit would make this dish sublime.

If you don't want to smoke the turkey first do the cooking in oil until the meat is falling apart. Keep the oil temperature at 195-200 degrees which results in a slow simmer. I removed the skin from the thighs but if you don't mind the additional fat leave it on. You should yield a little over a pound of cooked meat with bones removed.

For a wine selected a fruit forward Pinot Noir. A Viansa 2010 Reserve Pinot Noir North Coast worked well.