Turkey Stock/Broth

[Alex]

The turkey is gone but the stock remains. I reduced it to about 3 quarts and now am wondering what to do with it. My thoughts so far:

1) Make a killer minestrone.

2) Freeze some of it in ice cube trays so I can perk up soups that I (occasionally) make with canned stock. (The horror!)

3) Cook a chicken and make chicken-turkey noodle soup. Or maybe a chicken and a duck and make turducken soup.

Any suggestions?

[fresco]

I vote for No. 3. Don't think you need stock in minestrone. Parmesan rind is nice, though.

[fifi]

One word... GUMBO!

I make this every year with turkey. There is a gumbo thread in the Louisiana forum that might interest you if you pursue gumbodom.

[peanutgirl]

Make risotto with some of the stock and freeze the rest for another use ( like making more risotto).

[Alex]

One word... GUMBO!

I make this every year with turkey. There is a gumbo thread in the Louisiana forum that might interest you if you pursue gumbodom.

Would that make me a Gumby?

[Comfort Me]

I always, on the day after Thanksgiving, throw the carcas into a pot with a couple of cups of chicken broth, a bunch of water, and onions, celery and carrots. I let it simmer for a couple of hours, throw in -- gasp! frozen "country" vegetables and canned tomatoes, a couple of bay leaves and a nice bunch of thyme. When the veggies are done I toss in cooked, drained pasta (this year some wonderful pasta rings that held up very well). Pleanty of salt and fresh black pepper. Very comforting. Very rich.

And since the day after Thanksgiving is always a Friday, and the Jewish Sabbath begins at sundown Friday night, I always have an easy soup. Actually, I always invite guests for that Shabbat because dinner -- soup and a turkey potpie -- are so easy, I can spend extra time on a great dessert. This year it was a persimmon babka. More than you wanted to know, I know.

[Rachel Perlow]

This year when I made the leftover turkey carcass stock, I reduced it significantly (down to 1 quart). I've been using the turkey jello like demi glace for sauces, adding a scoop to rice cooking water, etc.

[Suzanne F]

Comfort Me touched on something I like to make: turkey pot pie. Cooked turkey meat (even chunks bought from the deli work); lightly cooked carrot, celery, onion, peas, and potatoes; chopped herbs; and REAL turkey gravy from the stock; all under pastry or biscuit dough. Really quick to do, and really good.

[Alex]

Thanks for the ideas, everyone. I'll probably make something now with some of the stock and freeze the rest. I ordered some Carnaroli rice the other day and am looking forward to risotto. Everything else sounds good, too. We still have three organic turkeys in the freezer, so there'll be plenty of opportunities to try stuff out.

Aidan, I like what you do for post-Thanksgiving Shabbat dinner. This year, though, we went to friends' homes on Thursday and Saturday and made our turkey on Sunday, so we wanted to spend a quiet (and turkey-less) Shabbat at home.

[tryska]

i've got mine in an ice cube tray - i've been using it for gravy and will again when i decide i want more of my frozen leftovers, and i plan on using it for gumbo too.

one handy thing i found out - make a note to yourself (maybe on the bag) how much is in each cube (mine's 2tbsp) and how much you need to make a cup of broth. (mine's a 4x reduction so 4tbsps = 1c broth) at least for me that will be a handy reminder a couple months (or next week, depending on how my memory is) from now.

Edited December 12, 2003 by tryska (log)

[heidih]

As soon as the four of us finished eating our mid day Thanksgiving turkey meal, I took most of the meat off the bones and tossed them into my big stock pot. I added a few chicken feet and a bag of chicken bones from a roasted chicken. Covered with water and it is burbling away.

I will let it go till late tonight, strain, cool and refrigerate, removing fat tomorrow. Then package into freezer containers for soups and general cooking use.

How do you deal with your turkey carcass?

[SeanDirty]

As soon as the four of us finished eating our mid day Thanksgiving turkey meal, I took most of the meat off the bones and tossed them into my big stock pot. I added a few chicken feet and a bag of chicken bones from a roasted chicken. Covered with water and it is burbling away.

I will let it go till late tonight, strain, cool and refrigerate, removing fat tomorrow. Then package into freezer containers for soups and general cooking use.

How do you deal with your turkey carcass?

←

Shred up meat, Smoke carcass if possible. Use carcass to make a stock, simmer stock with mirepoix, add shredded turkey add a bit of corn starch to thicken, add cream you got smoked turkey chowder!!

Add tobasco for a bit of kick... or heat... some acid...

[Jmahl]

As soon as the four of us finished eating our mid day Thanksgiving turkey meal, I took most of the meat off the bones and tossed them into my big stock pot. I added a few chicken feet and a bag of chicken bones from a roasted chicken. Covered with water and it is burbling away.

I will let it go till late tonight, strain, cool and refrigerate, removing fat tomorrow. Then package into freezer containers for soups and general cooking use.

How do you deal with your turkey carcass?

←

Shred up meat, Smoke carcass if possible. Use carcass to make a stock, simmer stock with mirepoix, add shredded turkey add a bit of corn starch to thicken, add cream you got smoked turkey chowder!!

Add tobasco for a bit of kick... or heat... some acid...

←

I like this idea - going to give it a try. THANKS.

Jmahl

[Lilija]

We pick at the carcass for a day or two, then make stock on Saturday or Sunday. My favorite use is to make turkey and dumplings.

Break the carcass up, and just barely cover it with water. Throw in all manner of stock vegetables, the more the better, including carrots, onions, celery, parsnips, and or turnips. Seasoned with salt, pepper, sage, and other turkey-appropriate flavors. Simmer all day, keeping the carcass barely covered, but not a whole ton of water. This is very intense broth. After a few hours, strain, pick off the meat save it, feed the spent veggies to the dog.

While that cooks, I make up a double batch of homemade egg noodles, and cut the dough into little pillows. Dice up some more celery and carrots. Add the meat, celery and carrots to the broth, cook till tender, then add the egg noodles, and all the flour clinging to them. When the noodles are done, there's just enough thickened, silky, ultra rich broth clinging to them, to inspire you to eat with a spoon. I've started anticipating this meal just as much as the original Thanksgiving meal.

[SeanDirty]

IM glad you liked the idea, its actually not mine and i have to give the credit to Chef .... I forget his name im so sorry!!! but he was the chef of the American Bounty in 2005... and it was his soup and his recipe. It is by far one of my most favorite soups in the world

[Truc]

Turkey Congee!!! the flavours from the turkey make the congee uber flavourful, i actually look forward to this more than the turkey dinner itself

[chezcherie]

turkey gumbo, shared with friends we didn't get to see on the holiday, due to family constraints. made the stock today, and will convene for oysters and gumbo (and reminiscence of a great new orleans trip) on sunday.

[Lindacakes]

Followed James Peterson this year -- very short boiling of the carcass.

Very refined broth.

Have left behind long boils.

[Emily_R]

We pick at the carcass for a day or two, then make stock on Saturday or Sunday.  My favorite use is to make turkey and dumplings.

Break the carcass up, and just barely cover it with water. Throw in all manner of stock vegetables, the more the better, including carrots, onions, celery, parsnips, and or turnips.  Seasoned with salt, pepper, sage, and other turkey-appropriate flavors. Simmer all day, keeping the carcass barely covered, but not a whole ton of water.  This is very intense broth.  After a few hours, strain, pick off the meat save it, feed the spent veggies to the dog. 

While that cooks, I make up a double batch of homemade egg noodles, and cut the dough into little pillows.  Dice up some more celery and carrots.  Add the meat, celery and carrots to the broth, cook till tender, then add the egg noodles, and all the flour clinging to them.  When the noodles are done, there's just enough thickened, silky, ultra rich broth clinging to them, to inspire you to eat with a spoon.  I've started anticipating this meal just as much as the original Thanksgiving meal.

←

Lilija -- Just wanted to thank you for the homemade egg noodle suggestion -- did this yesterday and it was TO DIE FOR. You are right -- the extra flour on the noodles made the broth thicker and silkier... This was just the thing since I've been sick with a cold since pre-thanksgiving...

[Lynnette]

As soon as the four of us finished eating our mid day Thanksgiving turkey meal, I took most of the meat off the bones and tossed them into my big stock pot. I added a few chicken feet and a bag of chicken bones from a roasted chicken. Covered with water and it is burbling away.

←

My stock was almost just like yours. Turkey, chicken & chicken feet (6) - but then I added stock aromatics 3 hours before pulling it off the heat. I got six quarts, one frozen in ice cubes for sauces, two dispatched into soup, and the last three awaiting soups this winter.

[Lilija]

We pick at the carcass for a day or two, then make stock on Saturday or Sunday.  My favorite use is to make turkey and dumplings.

Break the carcass up, and just barely cover it with water. Throw in all manner of stock vegetables, the more the better, including carrots, onions, celery, parsnips, and or turnips.  Seasoned with salt, pepper, sage, and other turkey-appropriate flavors. Simmer all day, keeping the carcass barely covered, but not a whole ton of water.  This is very intense broth.  After a few hours, strain, pick off the meat save it, feed the spent veggies to the dog. 

While that cooks, I make up a double batch of homemade egg noodles, and cut the dough into little pillows.  Dice up some more celery and carrots.  Add the meat, celery and carrots to the broth, cook till tender, then add the egg noodles, and all the flour clinging to them.  When the noodles are done, there's just enough thickened, silky, ultra rich broth clinging to them, to inspire you to eat with a spoon.  I've started anticipating this meal just as much as the original Thanksgiving meal.

←

Lilija -- Just wanted to thank you for the homemade egg noodle suggestion -- did this yesterday and it was TO DIE FOR. You are right -- the extra flour on the noodles made the broth thicker and silkier... This was just the thing since I've been sick with a cold since pre-thanksgiving...

←

This is good with spent chicken carcasses, too, or whatever you would normally make broth with, only halve the water. I'm so glad it hit the spot

[Mayhaw Man]

I made stock from two carcasses. I froze some of it and the remainder, as I type, is busy becoming turkey and andouille gumbo. I'll score some big points tonight when the bowls hit the table. I love doing this.

Do people where you are from get in fights at holiday meals over the possession of the carcass. In South Louisiana, or in this case, expat Louisianians in DC and Virginia, certainly do. I won, but I'm sure that it won't be forgotten anytime soon by the small minded and stingy hosts of the various meals that I enjoyed over the holiday weekend.

Too bad for them.

[Katie Meadow]

My husband's relatives either don't cook much or are vegetarians. We go to a family house at the beach for Thanksgiving, but my husband and I make the turkey and the stuffing and we have no competition for the carcass. If we couldn't have it I would refuse to go! When we got back home on Saturday afternoon my husband found my neighbors had thrown their carcass in the green bin. I was ready to retrieve it, that's how much I covet a carcass. I didn't, but we did tell my neighbors to save their next one.

MayhawMan: where's a recipe for turkey gumbo? Do you need a lot of leftover turkey meat? Our carcass doesn't have lot of meat by the time it gets back home.

Edited December 1, 2008 by Katie Meadow (log)

[Alcuin]

My husband's relatives either don't cook much or are vegetarians. We go to a family house at the beach for Thanksgiving, but my husband and I make the turkey and the stuffing and we have no competition for the carcass. If we couldn't have it I would refuse to go! When we got back home on Saturday afternoon my husband found my neighbors had thrown their carcass in the green bin. I was ready to retrieve it, that's how much I covet a carcass. I didn't, but we did tell my neighbors to save their next one.

MayhawMan: where's a recipe for turkey gumbo? Do you need a lot of leftover turkey meat? Our carcass doesn't have lot of meat by the time it gets back home.

←

I'm not MayhawMan, but I did make this Leftover Holiday Turkey Gumbo from Gumbopages this year and it was fantastic. I halved it and used a little under 3 quarts of turkey stock and I still have a lot of gumbo left since there's only two of us.

[Mayhaw Man]

My husband's relatives either don't cook much or are vegetarians. We go to a family house at the beach for Thanksgiving, but my husband and I make the turkey and the stuffing and we have no competition for the carcass. If we couldn't have it I would refuse to go! When we got back home on Saturday afternoon my husband found my neighbors had thrown their carcass in the green bin. I was ready to retrieve it, that's how much I covet a carcass. I didn't, but we did tell my neighbors to save their next one.

MayhawMan: where's a recipe for turkey gumbo? Do you need a lot of leftover turkey meat? Our carcass doesn't have lot of meat by the time it gets back home.

←

I'm not MayhawMan, but I did make this Leftover Holiday Turkey Gumbo from Gumbopages this year and it was fantastic. I halved it and used a little under 3 quarts of turkey stock and I still have a lot of gumbo left since there's only two of us.

←

Well, you can always look at this, though the photos, sadly, don't show up because of the nightmare of a website problem, but if you need any help, please shoot me an email. I would be happy to help.

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=567233

Best,

B

Edited December 2, 2008 by Mayhaw Man (log)