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Bonus Recipe: Turkey Stock



Properly made turket stock is culinary gold. You can use it in soup, to make risotto, in sauces or even add a spoonful to vegetables at the last minute for a glaze with a lovely mouthfeel. Because it has so many uses, I tend to keep the stock recipe as simple as possible - no vegetables, no salt - so that I can adapt it to as many uses as possible.

If properly made, the stock is not a liquid but a flavorful and richly concentrated jellyof a lovely golden color. I make a big vat on the day after Thanksgiving and freeze it in small containers and ice cube trays so that I can stretch it out for as long as I can.

The amount available depends on the size of your turkey. I made this recipe from the carcass of a 15 pound turkey and ended up with 24 ice cups and 9 containers of stock, each which will make 3 cups of soup. Not a bad haul for one bird.

1 turkey carcass, stripped of as much meat as you can remove (keep the skin)

Water

Put all of the turkey bones and skin into the largest soup pot that you own, crowding everything in. Cover with water so that all bones are submerged by about half an inch of liquid.

Cover the pot and cook on the stovetop at the lowest possible temperature for 2 1/2 hours. Check from time to time, pushing the bones down into the broth and making sure that it bubbles away in little plops never coming to a rolling boil. This will keep the stock clear.

When the time is up, drain the soup into a chilled bowl set in an ice bath. Set the bones aside to pick clean for turkey a la king or pot pie or soup. Once the soup has cooled, put the bowl in the refrigerator overnight.

The next morning decant the jelly into your containers; feel free to remove any fat which will have congealed on the surface first!

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