Turkey Stock

Winter is  a good time to make stock. A few mornings ago I put up a chicken stock and left it simmering on the stove  while I went out to run errands in the rain and the wind. By evening, when I returned all  cold and grumpy and achey and feeling sorry for myself, there was the most appetizing aroma in the apartment. I walked straight to the stove and drank a cup of stock just as it was, right out of the pot. Immediately I felt warm again. My bad mood and aches fell away from me and I was able to smile at my family. Mineral-rich stock is  a powerful ally to health, keeping immunities up and hastening recovery from illness any time.

With good stock ready at hand,  flavorful home-made soups, sauces and gravies are a snap to prepare. You can go from strained, clear stock to Greek avegolemono soup, or velouté sauce – or good old American gravy – in a matter of minutes. In fact, some of the batch I’m cooking up right now is going to make up the gravy for a savory turkey pie. Classic recipes call for veal and beef bones, but having fallen into the Israeli way of eating more poultry and less beef, I  find that turkey or chicken stock works very well.

The basis for today’s stock is turkey necks. At another time I might have used chicken wings or the carcass of a large roasted chicken. But peering into my freezer, where I’m always finding delightful surprises, I discovered a tidy kilo of turkey necks.  I must have put it away for stock.

This is the kind of recipe I love. About three minutes of preparation, then go about your business and let time do most of the work. Although this post calls it Turkey Neck Stock, you can use the meat and bones of other poultry, beef, or lamb, either cooked leftovers or raw. Add layers of flavors as your taste dictates. The basic vegetables remain the same.

Turkey Neck Stock

Yield: about 1 1/2 liters

Ingredients:

1 kg. turkey necks

1 onion, washed but not peeled

2 celery stalks, washed, trimmed and chopped into thirds or quarters

1 leek

2 garlic cloves

2 carrots, peeled and chopped into quarters

1 tomato, halved

1 bay leaf

1 parsley root or a parsnip (parsnips are rare here)

1 Tblsp. of apple cider or balsamic vinegar

A dollop of good soy sauce

A handful of papery onion skins

Optional ingredients to add at the last hour of the cook: a few dried mushrooms, a pinch of thyme or marjoram

Optional to add at the last half-hour: parsley or coriander leaves, nettles or other wild edibles. If using, cover the pot now so that the goodness of these fragile leaves won’t evaporate out. This is also the time to add small amounts of other vegetables you like but which won’t stand up to long cooking, like zucchini.

Notes before beginning:

The onion skins give a deep color to the broth and add valuable nutrients.

My turkey necks were frozen, so I put them in water to cover and started the cook, adding more water and the other ingredients when the necks had thawed out.  When using fresh meat – not necessarily raw, it can be the bones and pan juices from cooked meat – just put everything into the pot together.

Don’t allow the stock to boil at any time. The bones won’t release their nutritious elements if they cook in boiling liquid.

No salt goes into the stock. You’ll be straining the stock then using it as a base for other dishes that will need additional salt. Kosher meat and bones have some salt in them anyway.

Method:

Put all the basic ingredients into a big pot and cover them with enough water to submerge everything.

Bring the liquid up to a simmer, then keep the stock on the lowest possible flame, so that the water barely moves.

Skim off the greyish matter that forms on the surface of the broth. It’s harmless enough, but the stock will be cloudy if it’s not removed. You’ll need to do this once in a while over the next hour or two. If’ I’m organized enough at night, I start the stock while I’m fixing dinner, skim it once in a while till I go to bed, then leave it undisturbed till morning.

Once the scum has stopped forming, set the lid over the pot so that it’s partly uncovered, and walk away. The longer it cooks, the better. I like to leave it alone till the vegetables are very tender and the meat separates from the bone easily. This takes about 6 hours. You’ll know that the stock is approaching readiness when a fine, appetizing odor perfumes the kitchen.

When you’re satisfied that the stock is done, remove it from the flame and let it cool down. Strain it through a sieve. Put aside what you’ll be using up presently, and freeze the rest. It  will keep up to a week in the fridge.

You may want to remove any fat from it before freezing by chilling it and spooning the fat off.  Turkey necks have almost no fat on them, so I won’t be doing that today, but if I were using leftover roast lamb or duck, I certainly would.

So what am I going to do with this liquid treasure?

• Part of it will be the base for gravy in a savory pot pie.
• I’ll add a piece of two of chicken plus a fat slice of pumpkin, some cilantro and some salt to the rest, and let it simmer, covered, for about an hour. That will make the rich, golden Shabbat soup that my family loves.
• At least a couple of cups will go down the way I drank stock the other day – out of a teacup, standing right there by the stove.
• I could refrain from drinking stock as if it were tea and keep it for cooking rice instead of using plain water.
• Or make a small amount of sauce to spoon over steamed vegetables.
• If there’s some stock left over, I’ll freeze it by half-cups and cupfuls. That’s the most effective way. You won’t need to pull out and thaw a whole quart of the stuff for a recipe that only calls for half a cup.

The meat can be taken off the necks and added back to the strained stock. But I think I’ll make it into kreplach filling this time.

The photo below shows some of the stock’s gelatinous layer, which comes from the bones and gives the liquid a rich mouthfeel. Apart from how good for your hair and fingernails and joints all that good stuff is.

This article expands on the medicinal properties of well-made stock.