Every year after either Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, I am left with the turkey carcass, and like so many things, I say to myself- “I’m going to make stock out of that”, and then I don’t.
This year I finally got un-lazy and pulled out my huge stock pot. Though rather than just make broth, I decided to make bone broth, a nutrient dense and flavorful broth. By simmering the bones for a long long time, a lot of the minerals and nutrients are removed from the bones and meat creating a broth that is rich in amino acids, gelatin, calcium and magnesium, plus more. The gelatin is known for aiding in digestion, essential for those on the GAPS diet. The broth contains natural glucosamine and chondroitin, which is thought to be therapeutic for joints. The broth also contains proline, which along with vitamin C is great for your skin. The gelatin and collagen also support skin health.
So you can see that this liquid is quite the elixir, but the best part?? It’s delicious!! and couldn’t be easier to make.
Into a stock pot I added the turkey carcass, the turkey wings, an onion, a couple of cloves of mashed garlic, a handful of rough chopped carrots, 2 celery stalks and 2 tablespoons of vinegar and covered the whole lot with fresh water. I then simmered it, covered, all day. It simmered as I cleaned up the wrapping and gift bags, it simmered when I swept and washed the floor, it simmered when I went to the gym, it simmered when I called my Mom and told her about the beautiful gravy and mashed potatoes I made the day before… you get the idea. It just does it’s thing while I did mine.
Finally at the end of the day I strained the liquid through a fine sieve and that was that. The result was a rich luscious broth that cooled into a jelly. (which got me to thinking about making soup dumplings… hmm) This time when I tossed the carcass into the trash, I felt victorious.
My batch yielded 3 qts of gorgeous broth, which is delicious on it’s own, but I decided to make cauliflower soup. Into a large pot I sweated a pile of onions, a couple of cloves of garlic and some minced celery. Then I tossed in a couple of cups of the afore mentioned mashed potatoes, half a head of cauliflower rough chopped, and a quart of the broth. After about a half hour of low simmering, I pureed it all, added some milk, and the result?
The result was this conversation:
Pam: This is delicious! This is probably the best soup I’ve ever had.
Me: I know! me too! and it’s Cauliflower!!
This is to say that cauliflower does not bowl many folks over- so you can see how magical that bone broth must be, and why I’m so excited about it. I may never used tinned broth again. Seriously. My turkey yielded 3 quarts of broth, not only easy to make, but cheaper than bought too. Next time I’ll use chicken bones and try the simmering in my crock pot, that way I can really ignore it. So you can see how there really is no excuse not to do this.
Bone broth should be consumed within a week or frozen. To make using it more friendly I will line a cupcake tin with wrap and fill with the broth- which is easy since it’s jelly- and freeze into small units. This way I can grab one or two when needed.
btw- don’t go by the nutrition count on these recipes, they’re whack.
- 1 medium large yellow onion, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 stalks celery, minced
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 2 cups mashed potatoes or 1 large potato, diced
- 1/2 head cauliflower, rough chopped
- 4 cups bone broth, or chicken broth (omit salt)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup whole milk
- In a soup pot over medium heat, warm the oil then add the onion, garlic and celery. Slowly cook the vegetables, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent, taking care not to brown them. Add the potatoes, cauliflower, broth and salt. Simmer for 30 minutes until the cauliflower and potatoes are tender. Using a hand blender puree the soup, or alternatively puree in a blender, returning the soup to the pot. Stir in the milk and adjust the seasoning.
- large stock pot
- a chicken carcass or two, or collected bones, they may have some meat on them still
- 1 onion, quartered with skins
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2-3 carrots, rough chopped
- 2 stalks celery, quartered
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 peppercorns
- 2 teaspoons vinegar- important
- 2-3 quarts of water
- Place the bones and veggies into the pot and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then skim any foam off the top (or not, it's only unsightly). Reduce the heat and simmer (just a bubble here and there) covered for at least 8 hours, up to 48. If the water level gets too low you may add more. The bones should be soft and/or rubbery, or not. The longer the better and the softer the bones. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and cool. Store in the fridge for one week or freeze.
- There is no real science to the vegetables. This is a great way to use up what fading in your veggie drawer. Wilted is ok, moldy not so much, but feel free to toss it all in. Parsley stems are good, peppers, etc. Get creative.
- The vinegar is essential for helping pull the minerals out of the bones, you may use any kind you have.
Michelle says
December 31, 2013 at 4:26 pmWelcome to the world of bone stock Gail. There are so many wonderful things about making stock in this fashion including nutrition, flavor, economy and respect for the animal. I buy enormous bags of chicken bones in NYC’s Chinatown for 50 cents. Yes, 50 cents! (Chinatown has many first generation immigrants who have limited resources and don’t take access to food for granted. Nothing gets wasted, including the bones and feet — which makes amazing stock as well.) Tight budget or not, utilizing the whole bird just makes sense. I am a total convert. Happy New Year!
Gail Watson says
January 6, 2014 at 11:52 amMichelle- Thank you for this email. Wow!!! 50 cents?? That is fantastic and truly amazing. Btw- it can also help offset the expense of purchasing organic/local birds and veggies too. Pull everything you can get out of it and not only save money, but be healthier for it too!
Phil says
January 1, 2014 at 1:50 amLove how you said this one was whack! Who cares about calories as this is probably delicious!
Happy New Year!
Gail Watson says
January 2, 2014 at 4:19 pmPhil, The calories are not that high at all. It’s just that the software calculates the content of the entire turkey carcass into the final total, along with fat and protein, etc etc. Unfortunately I can’t override the program- so… it’s just whack.