Well here's my post on making turkey stock, just like I promised from a previous post I made. I hope you find it useful!
So, I love when I roast a full chicken or turkey as I know that I'm going to get even more goodness from it than all the meat! The bones are also useful and it takes very little effort and investment to get a nice, flavourful, homemade broth. There's different options for what you can add into your stock - I take the most frugal approach (usually).
All you need to do is take a stock pot (or in my case, I don't have a nice big stock pot so I used my two biggest pots) throw your turkey bones into it with some veggies, water, and a bay leaf or three and simmer it on the stove. When you carve your bird, make sure to keep any wings and skin you may pull off; it all helps flavour the broth. You can also throw in the neck, but don't add the giblets.
When I make stock after roasting a whole chicken I usually only use one pot, but my turkey was twice the size of a small fryer chicken so I used both of my bigger pots - also known as "dutch ovens" - and just divided up the bones and veggies.
I always use carrots, celery, onion, and a couple bay leaves. I find that they're simple ingredients that I tend to always have around and they give a nice flavour to to the resulting broth. You can add thyme or rosemary if you want as well, but I prefer to wait and flavour my broth with herbs when I'm actually making my soup later on. I keep my initial broth rather plain so that I have endless possibilities later.
Simmer your pots for a few hours, adding more water as you go if necessary. Taste your broth periodically; you'll know it's done when it has a great, full flavour. Strain out all the fluid using a fine mesh strainer, and call it a day. You can let the broth stand for a bit and skim off any "stuff" that rises to the top which will make for a clearer, less fatty broth. But, I don't usually bother.
Let your stock cool and then put it in containers to freeze for later. I usually divide mine into 3 or 4 cup portions and just keep them in old margarine, yogurt, or cottage cheese containers. I forgot to take a nice after picture of my stock so here it is out of the freezer - not pretty, but you get the point.
Now, I mentioned a little earlier that I tend to take the most frugal approach to making stock. When I first started making stock from my meat bones I found it really bugged me that I had to buy carrots, celery, and onions to throw into my stock, then I drained out the fluid and threw everything away. When I make my soup later on I then have to buy more veggies to add into the soup broth. Buying double the veggies just seemed to negate the price of making my own stock.
So, I did a little research and I found that you can actually use the peels and ends of your veggies to flavour your stock. That way you're using up things that otherwise are getting thrown away or composted. Your stock is then solely made from stuff you would be just throwing away. So, my mental math shows that my broth is FREE (except the cost of running the stove for a few hours, of course). Just the way I like it!
What I do is keep a bag or container in my freezer at all times that I can throw my veggie scraps into. Anytime I peel carrots, cut onions, take the ends and leaves off celery I save the "garbage" and throw it into my freezer. When I want to make broth I can just pull my container out of the freezer and add it to my stock. I have found that I get every bit as much flavour doing it this way than buying and adding fresh vegetables and it makes me feel really great that I'm using up things that would otherwise be thrown away. Make sure you keep and include your onion skins as well, they give a beautiful golden color to your broth.
So there you have it. Making turkey stock. It can be as simple as you want it to be or you can embellish it for fancier results. You can invest as much or as little as you want into the process. But, making your own broth is every bit worth the time and minimal effort! It's so much more flavourful than anything you can buy in stores and there's great health benefits as well. Homemade bone broth is rich in things like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and other trace minerals. You are also able to control how much sodium is in your broth.
And completely non-broth, non-food related: here is a photo of Abby's hair cut from the back. I just LOVE her little curls!
So, I love when I roast a full chicken or turkey as I know that I'm going to get even more goodness from it than all the meat! The bones are also useful and it takes very little effort and investment to get a nice, flavourful, homemade broth. There's different options for what you can add into your stock - I take the most frugal approach (usually).
All you need to do is take a stock pot (or in my case, I don't have a nice big stock pot so I used my two biggest pots) throw your turkey bones into it with some veggies, water, and a bay leaf or three and simmer it on the stove. When you carve your bird, make sure to keep any wings and skin you may pull off; it all helps flavour the broth. You can also throw in the neck, but don't add the giblets.
When I make stock after roasting a whole chicken I usually only use one pot, but my turkey was twice the size of a small fryer chicken so I used both of my bigger pots - also known as "dutch ovens" - and just divided up the bones and veggies.
I always use carrots, celery, onion, and a couple bay leaves. I find that they're simple ingredients that I tend to always have around and they give a nice flavour to to the resulting broth. You can add thyme or rosemary if you want as well, but I prefer to wait and flavour my broth with herbs when I'm actually making my soup later on. I keep my initial broth rather plain so that I have endless possibilities later.
Simmer your pots for a few hours, adding more water as you go if necessary. Taste your broth periodically; you'll know it's done when it has a great, full flavour. Strain out all the fluid using a fine mesh strainer, and call it a day. You can let the broth stand for a bit and skim off any "stuff" that rises to the top which will make for a clearer, less fatty broth. But, I don't usually bother.
Let your stock cool and then put it in containers to freeze for later. I usually divide mine into 3 or 4 cup portions and just keep them in old margarine, yogurt, or cottage cheese containers. I forgot to take a nice after picture of my stock so here it is out of the freezer - not pretty, but you get the point.
So, I did a little research and I found that you can actually use the peels and ends of your veggies to flavour your stock. That way you're using up things that otherwise are getting thrown away or composted. Your stock is then solely made from stuff you would be just throwing away. So, my mental math shows that my broth is FREE (except the cost of running the stove for a few hours, of course). Just the way I like it!
What I do is keep a bag or container in my freezer at all times that I can throw my veggie scraps into. Anytime I peel carrots, cut onions, take the ends and leaves off celery I save the "garbage" and throw it into my freezer. When I want to make broth I can just pull my container out of the freezer and add it to my stock. I have found that I get every bit as much flavour doing it this way than buying and adding fresh vegetables and it makes me feel really great that I'm using up things that would otherwise be thrown away. Make sure you keep and include your onion skins as well, they give a beautiful golden color to your broth.
So there you have it. Making turkey stock. It can be as simple as you want it to be or you can embellish it for fancier results. You can invest as much or as little as you want into the process. But, making your own broth is every bit worth the time and minimal effort! It's so much more flavourful than anything you can buy in stores and there's great health benefits as well. Homemade bone broth is rich in things like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and other trace minerals. You are also able to control how much sodium is in your broth.
And completely non-broth, non-food related: here is a photo of Abby's hair cut from the back. I just LOVE her little curls!
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