Weekend Turkey Soup Stock
This recipe comes to us courtesy of the Spice of Life Cookbook by Treva Davis (no longer in print).
Submitted by: Treva from Dousman, WI, USA
Yield: Approx. 5 and ½ Quarts
Preparation Instructions:
- Roast bones in two large roasting pans in the oven at 275 degrees for 2 hours, turning occasionally.
- Add vegetables and roast another 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. The secret to the rich color and taste of this soup is roasting the bones and vegetables that will comprise the stock. Add the contents of the roasting pans to a large stock pot or canning kettle.
- Place roasting pans on top of the stove, add the wine, heat and deglaze the pans by simmering the wine and stirring with a wooden spoon to loosen meat and vegetables that have stuck to the pan. Some of this stuck-on-stuff will contain fat. We will get rid of it later, but we want to capture these flavors.
- Pour wine into the stock pot. Add bay leaves, peppercorns, onion powder, and garlic powder. Place rosemary, sage, thyme, and dried parsley in a tea ball or cheesecloth, tied with a string, and add to stock pot. Add defatted drippings and just enough water to cover the bones, about 10 quarts. Cover and simmer on the lowest heat for at least 8 hours. I let it cook overnight.
- Turn off the heat and skim fat off the top. Strain stock into another stock pot and discard all bones, meat and vegetables. The meat and vegetables will have given their flavor to the stock so are not good in the final soup.
- Boil stock to cook down, occasionally skimming the foam from the top. You will get rid of most of the fat as you skim away the foam. Alternately, you may chill the stock, lift off the fat, and then cook down the stock, If it's winter and you live in a cold climate, like I do, you can just put the stock pot outside to chill. I put a rock on the lid so no critters can have dinner on me.
- Stock is cooked down sufficiently when it reaches your own desired flavor intensity. You will reduce the stock by about one half to two thirds. At this stage you may choose to freeze or can the stock for later use, or continue to make turkey soup.
thespicehouse.com
More About This Recipe
Do not let the stock boil because calcium will leach out of the bones and cause your stock to turn white. It does not hurt the flavor, but looks odd. If this happens, do not be concerned that it is ruined. The flavor will be the same. If the color bothers you, make it a creamed soup and no one will ever know.
I’ll agree with the previous poster. Mine is just starting on the long simmer. Reason for posting now is that the idea of roasting the bones and vegetables is a great one. My wife was a little disappointed in that she was hoping to have soup the same day. So hopefully this will be worth the wait. Just wanted to add that I too had to jack up temps after the first two and a half hours to get the veggies to carmelize and add to the bottom of the pan. I ended up at 375 during the last half hour. I ended up adding about an hour to the vegetable cook part of the process. Probably could keep the prep time the same if you simply jack the temps up to 325 to 350 for the second have of the cook. Or simply “adjust temps to get the veggies to carmelize and start to stick to the bottom of the pan”, etc.
Thanks for the recipe. I’ll post tomorrow after the stock is done.
I have often heard of baking the bones to make the soup, but never had a recipe before. I have made this one using chickens vs turkeys, adjusted the spices down by half because I’m making 6qts vs 10.
Baking the bones for about 4hrs at 275, then slow simmering (champagne bubbles, one at a time), for 12hrs or more has produced rich brown stock! The spice combinations have converted me, I will never buy canned stock again (never say never?), or at least not if I have the time to do this.
Chances are I will never toss those bones out again, either.
I baked the bones and veggies as per, but the veggies did not carmelize. I think next time I will remove the bones after they are done, but turn the heat up to 325 for another 1/2 hour or however long it takes to carmelize the onions and carrots. I have found that this produces an altogether different flavor that I like.
It’s still cooking as I type. I will probably also add some salt right at the end.
If anyone has any other suggestions, I am all ears.
Jack