What should I do with the mass quantities of turkey stock I now have?

November 29, 2007 12:13 PM

What should I do with the mass quantities of turkey stock I now have?

Ok, so I took my turkey carcass and made stock. Now I have stock filling up half of my freezer. I am looking for creative suggestions of what I should use it for, above and beyond turkey noodle soup.

I would be especially interested in any suggestions for healthy recipes using whole grains and/or vegetables.

posted by hazyspring to Food & Drink (14 answers total)

Risotto! If you prefer whole grains, you needn't stick to arborio rice -- use barley or farro or bulgur or amaranth or buckwheat or whatever.
posted by desuetude at 12:17 PM on November 29, 2007

I know it's just more soup, but I use mine to make turkey/smoked sausage gumbo and turkey wild rice soup. You could substitute chicken for the meat, if you're out of turkey.
posted by cabingirl at 12:18 PM on November 29, 2007

Keep a jar in the fridge and use it for *everything*.
One thing I like to do is when sauteing veggies, add a few spoonfuls early on. The water evaporates off and the sugars in the stock caramelize all over the delicious veggie bits.
posted by dan g. at 12:21 PM on November 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

Throw some into marinara sauces to add body.

Reduce your stock to make a turkey-glace for sauces.
posted by Seamus at 12:35 PM on November 29, 2007

Do you not use chicken stock commonly? Use it for the same ends. Paella, jambalaya, risotto, pilaf ... anytime you might simmer a grain in water or a stock, use the turkey stock. Baking halved squash in the oven? Add some stock to the baking dish to help it steam and impart its flavor.
posted by mumkin at 12:37 PM on November 29, 2007

While I do like a good soup, don't forget the Best Turkey Leftover Recipes on the Planet Earth.
posted by Soup at 12:42 PM on November 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

Pot Pie. I make a pretty quick weeknight version - boil stock, drop in carrot, leek, potato, sweet potato, onion, and celery chunks. You can add chicken chunks if you have no more turkey meat to add. When the veggies have softened, pour into a casserole dish and top with raw biscuit dough. Bake until dough is puffy and brown. MMmm great winter weeknight meal.
posted by Miko at 1:04 PM on November 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

I've frozen stock into ice cubes so they were more handy for single use. They tend to stick together when you put them in a container together, but you can still sort of chip them apart, and you don't have to thaw out a big container just to use a little.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 1:05 PM on November 29, 2007

Use some in place of water to make rice. Especially brown rice, which benefits from any flavoring agents you can throw in there while cooking.

Splash some on a pan after cooking meat, poultry, etc, to deglaze the pan and make a quick sauce
posted by DrGirlfriend at 1:05 PM on November 29, 2007

Turkey demi-glace!

Add tomato puree or wine, if you like, then reduce your stock, skimming frequently, until it coats a spoon.

This will take many hours, during which your house will smell fabulous.

Freeze demi-glace in an ice cube tray and use it to give soups and sauces a shot of yummy umami flavor.
posted by ottereroticist at 1:08 PM on November 29, 2007

That sounds like a lot of stock from one turkey. You could reduce it down by boiling for more concentrated flavor, to half or less its current volume.
posted by StickyCarpet at 1:27 PM on November 29, 2007

Use it as a braising liquid for cooking pork roast. Brown a sizeable roast in a heavy pot with a good fitting lid, add stock to come up 1/2 way-ish, add a couple peeled apples, a few tablespoons of orange juice concentrate, 4 whole cloves and a half dozen peppercorns. Bake in the oven, covered, at 275-ish until the internal temp of the roast is where you want it, or much longer (which will break down the tissue). Skim off some fat from the liquid in the pot and use some remaining liquid to either make a reduction for a sauce or mix it with a roux to make gravy.
posted by plinth at 2:14 PM on November 29, 2007

If you're going to make plain rice, you can make it with part turkey stock and part water. Very tasty.
posted by number9dream at 3:14 PM on November 29, 2007

Send it to me? Turkey stock is great for risotto, and great for glazing vegetables (add a tbs of butter, tsp of salt, and two of sugar, just barely cover some vegetables with the stock and boil the liquid away until the vegetables are soft and the stock has turned into a yummy, yummy thick glaze).

Or, make a very dilute cream sauce using the stock. Add some white wine and bake some chicken or turkey meat in a cassarole. Server over pasta. To.Die.For.
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 7:36 PM on November 29, 2007