Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Quiverin' Seasonal Love

We finally broke down the turkey carcass the other day, carving off more meat than I'll be able to deal with in the near future. Freezers, bless their hearts.
Best of all, though, I finally got around to cooking the turkey carcass (with its inevitably still-attached meat chunks, however minuscule) in a large pot of water with the usual suspects: celery, carrot and onion. C'est tout. Oh, well, the salt we had applied to the turkey skin before roasting also found its way into the pot. All right, a bay leaf and a handful of herbs. That's all. Simplicity.
But. Oh.
I cooked it well into the night, finding enough time at the end to strain the stock and let it cool before refrigerating it in quart-size containers.
Today we'll put the containers into zipped freezer bags, and into the freezer awaiting — oh, you know. Whatever. Turkey whatever. Soupy whatever.
The magic is when you use bones. And you simmer for a while.
The whole house smelled as if we were boiling Thanksgiving. (And apart from turkey gravy, that is exactly why we do a turkey once a year. To have tubs of frozen Thanksgiving stock.)
Here it is, just before going into the freezer. All gelatinous and quivery.
Like a spoonful of captured autumn.

17 comments:

Kalyn Denny said...

"Like a spoonful of captured Autumn"

What a great phrase!

Dagny said...

I am looking forward to making gumbo for precisely that reason -- the smell of simmering bones.

Anonymous said...

Bones make a real difference in stock! Yum, I can imagine great soup recipes following!

cookiecrumb said...

Kalyn: Yours if you want it!!

Dagny: Oh. So you understand! Yes. I knew I "got" you.

Anna: You too.

Anonymous said...

I've heard it said (from a co-worker and from Hedonia) that the downside to eeating Thanksgiving at someone else's house is that you don't get the leftover turkey to make sandwiches with. Seems like the other downside is not having a great base for frozen back-up stock!

Anonymous said...

ooo your turkey gelee looks awesome! i can just imagine how great a few spoonfuls of that would make nearly any soup

Ilva said...

You almost make me regret that we don't have Thanksgiving... Maybe I should do what Berlusconi and his likes (and Swift too but for other reasons plus that he is a bit more fun)says that communists do and boil my babes?

sra said...

Like a spoonful of captured autumn - love that phrase

Anonymous said...

My brother dislikes the term 'carcass,' so we call it 'turkey frame' soup instead.

The only thing I do differently is roast the carcass/frame in the oven at 325 for about a half hour before making the stock. It adds a really nice extra touch of flavor.

I use some of my stock when I make Mole Poblano (Rick Bayless' recipe). Mmmmm...

~ Peggasus

Shauna said...

Oooh, the perfect consistency.

I'm jealous. We made a big turkey for the family, but not a gigando one. And we left the bones at my brother's house. Damn. No stock.

cookiecrumb said...

PE -- and Shauna: If I can't get T-giving leftovers, or at the very least, the bones, I will most likely roast me my own turkey. Our meat markets have not been surprised to see me come in a day or two after Thanksgiving and ask if there are any turkeys left.

Amanda: A few spoonfuls? I'll take it undiluted! (It melts into fluid velvet at soup temperature.)

Ilva: Well, all I can say is they'd probably be pretty tasty, knowing how you've fed them! :-D

SRA: Wow, thanks.

Anonymous: First, "frame" is a great word. It sort of skirts the reality, but it has a Southern genteel charm. Second -- roasting sounds very tasty, but what happens to the gelatin when the bones (sorry) dry out?

Shauna: And this was the smallest one we could get!

Anonymous said...

PE -- Yes! I regret not having a turkey carcass, since all we cooked up this year was a breast. We make quite a lot of chicken stock, but turkey stock is something special. Our friend Hugh adds lemons to his, and the depth of flavor is remarkable.

Guy said...

YOU MADE TURKEY JELLO !!! Yay. I like to have some of that ready for to make sauces and gravies and soup stock and and and ... oh I love bones.

Biggles

yyfpefbe

Stacie said...

great photo, love Turkey Love!

cookiecrumb said...

Biggles: This might be the thickest one I've ever made. Cranky was even suggesting I boil it down more to save freezer space; I bet that would work.

Stacie: Gobble, gobble.

Guy said...

Sheet, just buy another freezer. Don't chintz on the food!

Biggles

cookiecrumb said...

I want another freezer!
Santa?
(We had to throw away a year-old quart of turkey stock yesterday. It must not have been stored right. Smelled like burnt plastic.)