Ingredients
Method
- Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook 4-5 minutes, until softened and translucent. Don't let them take colour.
- Sprinkle the flour over and stir it into the butter and onions. Cook 1-2 minutes, until it smells toasty rather than raw. This roux is what gives the broth enough body to cling to the beans instead of sliding off them.
- Pour in the broth slowly, stirring constantly so it stays smooth and lump-free.
- Add the turkey legs and season lightly with Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, and smoked paprika. Do not add salt yet; smoked turkey is cured and releases a lot of salt into the broth as it simmers.
- Cover and simmer on low for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the turkey is tender and the meat is letting go of the bone.
- Lift out the legs and cool slightly. Pull the meat from the bones, discard the skin, cartilage, and bone, and shred the meat.
- Return the shredded turkey to the pot along with the green beans. Cover and simmer another 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the beans are very tender and have absorbed the smoky gravy.
- Taste now, and only now decide about salt. Adjust the other seasonings if needed and serve.
Notes
The flour is what makes this smothered rather than brothy. In Southern and Creole cooking, smothered means braised in a gravy. Nearly every other Southern green bean recipe simmers the turkey in plain broth, which gives you beans in a smoky liquid rather than beans coated in gravy. Use 1 tablespoon for a light gravy, 2 for something closer to a sauce.
Don't salt at the start. Smoked turkey legs are brined and cured, and over a two-hour simmer that salt migrates into the broth. A pot that tastes right at the beginning will taste aggressively salty by the end. Season lightly, taste at the very end.
This is why every seasoning is listed to taste rather than measured; the saltiness of smoked turkey varies a lot between brands.
The beans are meant to be very soft, not crisp-tender. Soft beans have broken down enough to absorb the smoke and the gravy. If you prefer more bite, pull them at around 30 minutes instead of the full hour.
If the gravy has thinned over the long simmer, whisk another teaspoon of flour into a little cold broth and stir it in.
Fresh green beans only. Frozen fall apart over a long simmer, and canned are already cooked; if using canned, add them in the last 10 minutes.
Smoked turkey wings or necks can replace legs. Necks give the richest broth but the least meat; wings sit in between.
Keeps 3-4 days in the fridge and is better on day two. Reheat gently with a splash of broth.