Turkey Broth

Remember last Friday when I told you I'd share a blog post about the broth you're supposed to be making with your leftover turkey Karkass? Well, this is it, people. Pay attention.

So you roasted your turkey. (It was easy like I said it would be, right?) And you saved the carcass and the giblets because I told you to. Well now you're gonna want to do the following (this recipe is loosely based on the one from Nourishing Traditions):

1.) Get the biggest pot you can find.

"Not like practical joke big..."

2.) Put in it the carcass and giblets, a couple splashes of white vinegar, and fill it almost to the top with cold water. Let sit at room temperature for half an hour. (I promise this makes the broth way better than if you heat it straight off.)

3.) Bring to a boil. Meanwhile, chop up some carrots, an onion, and some celery if you have it. After everything has come to a boil, skim off all that foamy gunk from the top. Add your veggies and maybe a couple of bay leaves.

4.) Turn the pot down to a simmer and leave it there, covered, for at least 6 hours, up to 24. (At least that's what Sally Fallon says -- I've personally never left it longer than 10.) If you have an electric range, feel free to leave your house and come back later.


5.) Turn off the heat and let the broth cool a bit. Then take ya some kitchen tongs and pull out all the big pieces of stuff and throw them away. Strain the liquid into a bowl (or in my case this time, two bowls and a pot). Store in fridge overnight.


[Batman villain's fridge?]

6.) Go to sleep and dream of tasty soups.

7.) In the morning, take your bowls out of the fridge and skim the congealed fat off the tops. (When you use a carcass for making broth, you will have very little fat. If you boil a whole chicken or something, there will be a lot more. In that case, you should save the fat for sauteing things in.)

8.) Measure the broth out and store in jars, tupperware, or ziplocks. Freeze, or store in fridge and use within a couple days. (I put 2 cups in a container so it can substitute for a can of broth -- mostly in ziplocks, because they will lay flat in my freezer and subsequently defrost quickly.)


You may also want to pour some into ice cube trays. Then you'll have little bits of broth for throwing into skillet meals or sauces (like the cheesy white sauce).

[My freezer, newly reorganized. Blog post to come.]

Broth is good for all sorts of things, but I mainly use it for soups, white sauces, and for cooking rice in. I also took a bag of broth cubes with me to give birth. Norman threw a few at a time in a mug and warmed them up for me. Yum!