Troubleshooting braised turkey legs dry and tough

If your stock turns to jelly in the fridge, it means you did it right!

Simmering the bones breaks down the collagen and turns it into gelatin; that's the very essence of stock-making. The gelatin is exactly what you want from the stock; at low temperatures it has a very jelly-like consistency, but at higher temperatures it melts and provides a very rich texture.

The more you reduce the stock, the more gelatinous it will become, so if it turned out stiffer than you expected, it's probably because you let a lot of water evaporate. Typically, when making stock, you use a very low simmer; just a few bubbles per minute. Any more than that and your stock will reduce.

But reducing is perfectly OK, and many cooks will reduce an entire pot of stock down to a few tablespoons; it's like bullion, only without all the salt and preservatives. Heavily-reduced stock is called glace de viande and is often used to give a sauce or dish a little bit of extra kick, imparting a powerful meat flavour. But you probably didn't reduce it that much.

If you're finding it to be too concentrated or gelatinous, even at higher temperatures, you can feel free to dilute it. For soups or sauces you can probably dilute it 1 for 1, but taste as you go along just to make sure you're not watering it down too much.

When only the top layer of a stock solidifies in the refrigerator, it is probably fat, which you should skim off and discard (or reserve). The rest is your actual stock, and in your case it sounds delicious.

Also, since you mention vacuum-sealing - I prefer to use covered ice cube trays for freezing stock. That lets you portion it out much more easily than a big solid blob.

Generically speaking meat that is appropriate for a braise is tougher and has connective tissue that can be turned to gelatin by the long slow cooking process. As you've noted, meat that is tender can be "cooked to death" using that same method, so I would, generally, recommend against using a braise.

However, a stove top braise can go quickly without ruining the meat, if you keep it short and treat the braising liquid as more of a sauce than anything else. I would suggest that you brown each side of your lamb chops, then add all your other ingredients. Depending on the amount of liquid your original recipe calls for, you might want to cut back. I wouldn't want more than 1/2 cup or so of liquid. "Braise" covered on the top of the stove for 1/2 hour, never going past a simmer. Pull out the chops and cover, while you reduce the braising liquid to make it more sauce-like, then spoon onto the chops.

Note that you won't have the long time to meld flavors, and if there are big chunks of garlic or onions, they won't be a sweet as in the longer braise. But you should get a serviceable dish.