Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Gearing up for Thanksgiving Part 2: Turkey Stock

Pin It Now! So. You cooked a 16 pound turkey for Thanksgiving and now you're stuck with about 8 pounds of turkey meat and a scary looking carcass left over. Great.

What do you do? What can you do?

LOTS!

First thing's first. Save that scary looking carcass! I know. I thought about passing out, too. It's just so eh looking. What if I told you that by boiling that heap of mess and bones, you won't have to buy stock for- let's say- MONTHS.

Yeah, thought so. I have your attention now.

It's easy and something that you can do while you clean up Thanksgiving dinner, or while you're sitting down to dinner!

This is true thriftiness and getting the most bang for your buck!

The great thing is that you will now be able to pull any meat you weren't able to get- or neglected to get- while carving! So get your containers ready for some more good meat!

Can't use all of the stock right away? No worries! Just freeze it!! :)

Turkey Stock
Yields: A ton of stock. Trust me.


Ingredients:
Turkey carcass, yummm
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 onion, cut in quarters
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1 red bell pepper, quartered
2 bunches of fresh parsley
1 bay leaf
1 TBS each of salt and pepper
Water
The largest cooking pot you have.

Directions:
1. Place the carcass into a very large pot. Fill with water until there is about 1 inch of water above the carcass.
2. Place in the other ingredients.
3. Over medium-high heat, bring the water to a boil. For the first half an hour, be pretty diligent to remove any of the questionable things (i.e. fat, skin) that rise to the top of the pot.
4. Reduce the heat, so that the water simmers. Simmer for about 3 more hours, checking the pot every half an hour, to see if you need to skim fat from the top.
5. Strain out the vegetables and carcass.
6. Use for soups! Yumm!

13 comments:

  1. I love homemade stock - nothing beats it! And to have months in the freezer. Awesome.

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  2. Great reminder! I guess you could combine it with the boiled giblet broth too. Thanks for another great idea!

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  3. There is nothing more delicious than homemade stock! You are my thrifty queen!

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  4. Nothing beats homemade stopck for sure, just need a bit of effort after already cooking the turkey lol.

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  5. looks wonderful lovely pictures of the stock

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  6. Great idea, nothing beats homemade stock! Great photo!

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  7. The carcass sometimes freaks me out as much as cleaning the raw bird! This is such good advice though. It's something I'd want the husband to help me out with :)

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  8. I should make stock more often! You can also freeze leftover chicken carcasses (that is such a scary word) until you have enough for a huge pot and have a stock making partay!

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  9. Great idea on using up the turkey bones! Everyone remembers to use up the leftover meat, but the carcass usually gets thrown out. The turkey stock will come in very handy, and it can be frozen!

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  10. Can't get enough of homemade stock!!

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  11. Love turkey stock, my mom has been making it this way for years, then she turns the stock into turkey alphabet soup. Hoping you and your family have a happy Thanksgiving.
    -Gina-

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  12. Thank you for sharing the stock recipe! Stock is so versatile, you can use it in soups, stews, risotto, and many other recipes.

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