Day After Turkey Stock Recipes

LEFTOVER T-DAY TURKEY STOCK

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Cook and stir celery, carrots, onion, and garlic in oil until slightly softened and fragrant, 5 minutes. Add turkey, bay leaves, salt, peppercorns, rosemary, and dried sage. Cook until fragrant, 5 minutes more. Pour enough water in to cover turkey and vegetables.
• Bring mixture to a boil, cover pot, and reduce heat to low. Simmer, skimming fat occasionally, until flavors are blended, 4 to 5 hours. Strain liquid into a container and discard carcass and vegetables.

RESCUED TURKEY STOCK

Steps:

• First, you need a turkey carcass, stripped of all its meat; if you're lucky, you'll be at someone's home and they'll be throwing it away-- that's the time to shout, I'll take it!
• You will also likely discover that you'll be able to rescue a lot of meat off the carcass; this is a bonus, since you now have the meat for the soup as well.
• Try to make the stock the day after the turkey was cooked, but if you have to wait another day or so, that's okay; it'll taste best, though, if you can get to it soon.
• Let's get started; first, get out a large pot.
• Next, start to strip off any meat clinging to the carcass; put this in a container and set aside; note that this is a hands-on job and you will get a little messy; that's okay, both your hands and your counter wash up easily.
• As you are stripping off the meat (don't fret, you won't get it ALL, some stubbornly clings to the bones and that's okay, it too flavours the stock), continue to break up the bones and put them in the pot; also put in the pot any turkey skin and all the other assorted"bits" that aren't edible meat.
• When you have the pot full of bones, pour the cold water over and turn heat to high; bring to a boil.
• Now wash up and prepare the veggies and parsley; make sure to leave the onion skin ON as it gives your stock a lovely rich colour.
• When the stock comes to a boil, add all remaining ingredients and turn heat down to a lightly bubbling simmer, the type where the bubbles barely break the surface.
• Now let it simmer for 3 to 4 hours, stirring every once in a while.
• I much prefer letting it reduce down to where I'll only get 7 or 8 cups of stock; I find the flavour much better and stronger, even if I have to add water when making the soup.
• If you only let it simmer till you have about 12 cups of stock, it will be ready sooner but the flavour is much weaker.
• Once you feel your stock is ready, strain it through a fine-meshed sieve into a large bowl; if your sieve is not fine, line it first with cheesecloth; discard the bones and veggies you used to make the stock, all their goodness is now in your stock.
• Refrigerate stock, covered, for several hours or preferably overnight; then you can either make soup the next day, or freeze the stock; make sure you skim off the solidified fat before you either make soup or freeze the stock.

DAY-AFTER-THANKSGIVING TURKEY CARCASS SOUP

Steps:

• Place the turkey carcass in a large, deep pot, and add the stuffing, celery, carrots, onion, bay leaves, poultry seasoning, sage, and chicken broth. Pour in additional water if needed to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat to medium, and simmer for about 1 hour, skimming off any foam. Remove the carcass and any bones. Pick any meat off and return to the pot, discarding bones and skin.
• Season to taste with garlic salt and pepper. Stir in the rice and return to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower heat to medium, and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in the peas, and continue to simmer until rice is tender, about 10 minutes more. Adjust seasonings to taste.

THE DAY AFTER THE FEAST BEFORE TURKEY SOUP

Steps:

• To make the stock, put the bones in a kettle and add any leftover turkey skin.
• Add the water, giblet gravy, bay leaf, thyme, celery tops, coarsley chopped carrots, coarsely chopped onion, green part of leeks, parsley, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and let simmer for one hour. As the broth cooks, skim off and discard any scum, foam and fat that rises to the surface.
• Strain the broth into a clean kettle, discarding the solids, and skim off all fat from the top. Bring to the boil and add the diced carrots, diced celery, white part of leeks, finely chopped onion, tomatoes, zucchini and garlic. Let simmer about 10 minutes, then add the orzo. Continue cooking five minutes and add the corn kernels and cubed turkey meat Continue cooking 15 minutes. Stir in the parsley. Serve with the grated Parmesan cheese on the side.