Turkey leg...Cave man style or sliced off the bone?

[Karen/NoCA]

How do your present the turkey legs for serving? Usually, Gene has cut the leg off and put in on the platter with the thighs and sliced breast meat. I always hated seeing that cave man looking leg sitting there, but figured that was just me being silly and said nothing. This year, a twelve year old grandson decided he wanted a leg. He rarely finishes any food he takes and is a very poor eater. Per doctors orders, family is under instruction not to say anything to him about his food habits, so no one said anything. He took a few bites and came into contact with all those long, spiny bones typical in turkey legs and that ended that adventure for him. The next day, I took the meat off the bone and put it with the turkey meat we were keeping for our soup. That day at lunch, he asked for his leg again and I told him I cut the meat off the bone for him. He would have nothing to do with it.
It got me to wondering if anyone really enjoys eating the turkey leg, given all those pesky bones, and do you present it cut off the bones?

[Carl Eppig]

We cut as much meat off drumsticks and theighs as we can and keep the bones for stock.

[Jenise]

I can sure understand kids liking the leg and I'd leave them intact if there were kids at the table who would love that kind of thing, but otherwise, no, all the meat gets cut off.

[Jeff Grossman/NYC]

I cut the meat off the bone if I think there isn't a lot to go around. Otherwise, there's always someone who wants to be Henry VIII (...or 8 years old, or something like that).

[Jenise]

I cut the meat off the bone if I think there isn't a lot to go around.

There's NEVER really enough dark meat to go around, though, is there.

[Jo Ann Henderson]

There is never enough dark meat to go around. I slice up the turkey and put it into a chaffing dish (a la hotel buffet), and I used to segregate the meats into different halves of the dish with white at the top and dark at the bottom. The dark would always disappear first leaving a dish of just breast meat that everyone complained about. This year I sliced and alternated dark with white, with the bony pieces (wing joints, thighs with a bit of meat and that gristly knob on top, around the sides. Worked like a charm. There wasn't time in line to pick over the meat to get just the pieces you wanted. People had to scoop and keep it moving. All the turkey was eaten!

[David M. Bueker]

To this day my dad still has one of the turkey legs whole. With all those weird, thin bones that are in teh legs I find taking the meat off of the bone nearly impossible. It ends up a mess that is much worse than picking the whole thing up at one time.

[Howie Hart]

I'm a cave man, for reasons stated by David.

[Jenise]

There is never enough dark meat to go around. I slice up the turkey and put it into a chaffing dish (a la hotel buffet), and I used to segregate the meats into different halves of the dish with white at the top and dark at the bottom. The dark would always disappear first leaving a dish of just breast meat that everyone complained about. This year I sliced and alternated dark with white, with the bony pieces (wing joints, thighs with a bit of meat and that gristly knob on top, around the sides. Worked like a charm. There wasn't time in line to pick over the meat to get just the pieces you wanted. People had to scoop and keep it moving. All the turkey was eaten!

Very clever!

[Jon Peterson]

I eat pizza with a knife and fork so guess what? No cave man style for me.

[Jeff Grossman/NYC]

I eat pizza with a knife and fork so guess what? No cave man style for me.

A cucumber fork and a grapefruit knife? Or, are you not so specialized?

[Lou Kessler]

I eat pizza with a knife and fork so guess what? No cave man style for me.

How so very, very, English old chum. Picking up a piece of pizza in your hand how reprehensible.

[ScottD]

I just watched the Turkey Feast episode of Jacques and Julia last week. His method of turkey prep prior to roasting was really educational to me. He took off the leg quarters and nipped just the last inch or so off the leg end (then went on to bone the thigh and stuff it prior to roasting) and he made mention at that point of the persnickity tendon/bones saying that, even with a pliers, to attempt to remove them prior to cooking is futile, but when roasted to completion they easily pull out slick and clean... making either carving or "Henry VIII'ing" them much more manageable.