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Homemade Turkey Stock
 
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Prep Time: 0 Minutes
Cook Time: 0 Minutes
Ready In: 0 Minutes
Servings: 10
Though canned turkey broth is now available, homemade stock will give an unbeatable true turkey flavor to your gravy. It's easy to make ahead from purchased turkey wings, and can be frozen up to six months. This recipe makes about 10 cups of stock, which will give you enough for all the items on the menu that require it (the turkey, the stuffing, and the green beans). If you're making larger portions of the recipes, you'll want to make more stock as well.
Ingredients:
3 pounds turkey wings (about 3 large wings)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped (about 2 cups)
1 medium carrot, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 medium stalk celery with leaves, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
6 sprigs fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 dried bay leaf
Directions:
1. Position rack in top third of oven and preheat to 450°F.
2. Using heavy cleaver, chop wings into 2-inch pieces. (See Test-Kitchen Tips, below.) Spread wings in roasting pan and roast, turning with tongs after 20 minutes, until deeply browned, about 45 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in 6-quart stock pot over moderate heat, heat oil until hot but not smoking. Add onion, carrot, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes. Add wings and any pan juices and reduce heat to low.
4. Straddle roasting pan across 2 burners on high heat and cook until browned bits are sizzling, about 1 minute. Add 2 cups cold water and bring to boil, scraping up browned bits with flat wooden spatula or spoon. Pour liquid into pot and add enough cold water to cover ingredients by 1 inch, about 14 cups.
5. Raise heat to high and bring to boil, skimming foam from surface. Add parsley, thyme, peppercorns, and bay leaf. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, 3 hours, adding water as needed to keep wings covered.
6. Pour stock through fine-mesh sieve into large bowl, discarding solids. If using immediately, let stand until yellow fat rises to surface, 1 to 2 minutes, then skim off and discard fat. If not using immediately, place bowl in larger bowl of iced water. Let stand, changing ice water as it warms, until stock is tepid, at least 30 minutes. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, then scrape off and discard fat. (Stock can be made ahead and refrigerated in airtight container up to 2 days or frozen up to 6 months. Reheat in saucepan over low heat before using for stuffing and turkey.)
7. Test-Kitchen Tips: •Turkey wings, with a good combination of skin, meat, and bones, make great stock. The wings should be chopped up before adding to the pot—not only will they fit better than whole ones, but they'll release more gelatin and collagen to give the stock richness. If you don't have a heavy cleaver for the job, ask the butcher to do this for you, or chop the wings as best as you can just between the natural separations at the wing joints. Don't try to hack at the thick turkey bones with a knife, as you are likely to chip the blade. •If a large amount of hot stock is placed in a refrigerator (especially a full one where the air circulation has been curtailed by lots of holiday groceries), the steam given off by the stock could raise the fridge temperature to an unsafe level. On the other hand, you don't want to let the stock cool naturally on the counter because bacteria could breed during this slow process. The solution is to cool the stock quickly before refrigerating it by placing the bowl in an iced water bath, changing the water as needed until the stock is lukewarm.
By RecipeOfHealth.com