Turkey drumstick in sweet & sour sauce with mlinci

For Sunday dinner we always have our family come over, and my family is a large one, I’ve got my sister’s family, my brother’s family, aunts, uncles and cousins. Mostly my older brother comes over, like today. He has two kids, my nephew who’s a 4yo and my niece who’ll be 2 years old in a few days. There are those classic dishes we usually prepare, but not today, today we did my recipe – Turkey drumstick in sweet & sour sauce with mlinci.

Here in Croatia Mlinci are a part of our traditional cuisine and as such can be found in many of our restaurants. Mlinci are a type of dry pasta which you pour boiling water over and they’re done, for seasoning we usually use the sauce from roasting meat. If you ever find yourself in Croatia, especially the continental part, I recommend giving them a try, you won’t regret it. People who have tried them while staying in Croatia, later used to ask me how to make some themselves since they’re so hard to find anywhere outside Croatia, and finally I’ve got a simple recipe you can use.

Here are a few interesting facts about turkey:

• Due to over-hunting turkeys were almost extinct during the 1930s
• The more excited a turkey is, the whiter its head and neck are
• Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird of the USA
• Longest-living turkey lived for 13 years
• A turkey can drown if looking up during rain storms

• Male turkey is called a tom, and the female a hen
• A turkey can run 20 miles per hour
• Turkeys were domesticated in Mexico and then brought to Europe during the 16th century..

Give this recipe a try and have a delicious end to a relaxing weekend!

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Enjoy & happy cooking!

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Preparation: 30 min

Cook time: 1 h 15 min

Servings: 4

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Ingredients

Mlinci:

• 400 g hard flour
• 200 ml water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg

Turkey:

• 800 g turkey drumstick
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp smoked red paprika
• 3 tbsp duck fat
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 30 g spring onion, sliced
• 30 g carrot, sliced
• 30 g bamboo shoots, sliced
• Salt & pepper to taste

How to

1. Sift the flour and mix the ingredients (water, salt, egg) using your hand until you form a non-sticky firm dough. Set aside to rest and cover with a kitchen rag so it doesn’t dry off.
2. Divide in 8 to 10 pieces and roll the dough. Heat a large non-stick pan over high heat and bake quickly the rolled out dough until golden and light brown. Set aside and let the sheets of dough dry off for 1 day or you can use them right away, but have to dry them off. Break the dough into smaller pieces which we will soak in boiling water until cooked all the way through.
3. Season turkey with salt, ground pepper, garlic powder and smoked red paprika. Spread the duck fat over each piece and place in a large baking tray. Preheat the oven to 180° C.
4. Take 1 tbsp from 1/2 a cup of pineapple juice and mix it with cornstarch until combined. Place the rest of the pineapple juice, brown sugar, ketchup, rice vinegar, soy sauce in a medium sauce pan. In a small non-stick pan heat 1 tsp of oil, add sliced spring onion, carrot and bamboo shoots and let them simmer until soft.
5. Stir in cooked vegetables into the sauce pan with pineapple juice and other ingredients. Heat to a boil, lower the heat and let the sauce cook for 10 to 15 min before stirring in cornstarch. Let the sauce thicken and ingredients combine.
6. Place the turkey in a large baking tray into the preheated oven, cook covered for about 45 min. Then uncover the tray and top the turkey in sweet and sour sauce, cook for another 30 min. Enjoy Turkey drumstick in sweet and sour sauce with mlinci!