Braised Turkey Wings

One of my most favorite things to eat is turkey wings. They have so much flavor and contrary to the turkey leg, do not have all those ligaments that make the leg such a chore to eat. I mean, don’t misunderstand me, I will still eat a turkey leg! But turkey wings are so much easier. You have a smaller drummette, the middle section, and the wing tip. All of them are full of flavor. The turkey wing is my second most favorite part of the turkey, the thigh is my most favorite part.

When I cook turkey wings, I like to separate them into 3 pieces: the drummette, the middle part, and the wing tip. Many people like to cook them whole. But to me, they are easier to handle when separated. And easier to serve. I prefer to buy the turkey wings that come with all 3 parts, but in some stores, they have only the middle part and the wing tip. You gotta do whatever you gotta do to eat some delicious turkey wings, so I get whatever I can get my hands on.

Braising is a process where you first sear the meat to seal the flavors at a high temperature and then lower the temperature to cook the meat slow in some form of liquid. I usually use wine to braise because I love the flavour wine brings into any meat. Plus, I love wine, and there are always several bottles of wine in my house. You can use either white wine or red wine. I prefer dry wines, and if I feel like adding some sweetness, then I add dry figs, dates or prunes. But you can also use semi-sweet wines and it will work too. I wouldn’t use very sweet wines, it will make the sauce and the meat too sweet. The idea is to add a little bit of sweetness without taking over.

Sometimes I use beer and sometimes broth. It really depends on what you are cooking, and what inspiration you have that day. That is how I cook. I just let the meat talk to me and tell me what to do to it! I know, sounds coo-coo, but it works for me! Hehehe

I have two versions of the braised turkey wings. I first did the original recipe using a dutch oven, caldero for many Latin families. In my house growing up, my mom always had several calderos, different sizes and for different uses. I have never used a rice cooker to make rice, at home I always made it in the caldero. A caldero and a dutch oven are similar kinds of pots, they are big, but the caldero is usually made out of aluminum and a dutch oven made of cast iron. You can use either one, they take you to the same place when cooking. If you don’t have either, then use a large frying pan with a lid. Will not be as effective as the caldero or dutch oven, but it will do the trick.

The next day after I made the dutch oven version, we had company over for dinner and I still had raw turkey wings left. I decided to make another batch, but this time I didn’t have the luxury of cooking it for a long time since it was after work. That is why you need an Instant Pot pressure cooker! It cooks everything so much faster, it reduces the cooking time big time. And you know what, they came out as delicious as the original. I changed the recipes a little bit and both of them are posted here. You can interchange your cooking tool with the recipe you prefer.