Photo: adria.richards

BY EMMA HABERMAN

After a few days of Thanksgiving sandwiches, you may be left with nothing but a few scraps of meat and a heap of turkey bones. Before you give up on the bird, why not use every last morsel? You have the perfect base for a quick turkey stock.

The recipe below is a good jumping off point for a basic stock, but can be easily adjusted to your taste. I recommend a high meat-to-water ratio to get the turkey-est stock possible. If you have more leftovers than you know what to do with, the recipe can be easily doubled and stock can be frozen in pint containers for several months.

I recently read a recipe that recommends placing the turkey bones in 2 inches of water and roasting them, uncovered, in a 180 degree oven for at least 8 hours before adding the remaining ingredients and simmering. I haven’t tried this method myself, but roasting almost never fails so why not give it a try. Use your stock in turkey noodle or vegetable barley soup, or as the liquid in an autumn veggie risotto.

Homemade Turkey Stock Recipe

Ingredients:
Thanksgiving turkey remains (about 3 pounds of turkey bones, meat and giblets)
2 celery ribs, cut into chunks
2 large carrots, cut into chunks
2 medium Spanish onions, quartered
2 fresh bay leaves
1 bunch flat leaf parsley
1 teaspoon dried thyme
10 whole peppercorns
2 quarts cold water
Salt

Method:

1. Place all the ingredients in a stock pot. Slowly bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Skim the foam off the top. Cover and simmer for 1 hour.
2. Remove the turkey using tongs and set aside until it’s cool enough to handle. Remove meat from the bones before discarding them. Save the meat for another use, like turkey noodle soup. Remove the giblets, set aside for a lucky dog. Strain stock through a fine sieve, discard vegetables and herbs.
3. Refrigerate overnight. Skim the fat from the surface, and strain one more time. Yields about 6 cups of stock.

You can follow Emma on Twitter (@habermania)

Photos: adria.richards

To read more tips and recipes from Emma, follow me on Twitter (@MarcusCooks)