Out of StockOk, I admit it – I'm a stock slut. Everything I cook has homemade stock in it. If a recipe calls for water, I use stock instead. If a dish needs two 10-ounce cans of stock, I reach into the freezer for my homemade version.
Every other weekend I make a ton of stock – about 10 quarts – and it lasts for about a week and a half. I do most of my cooking on Saturdays and Sundays, and then freeze individual portions for me and my girlfriend to eat during the week. This weekend, I needed stock for turkey-vegetable soup and red beans and rice. The soup was to take the chill out of the weather, the red beans and rice to make my Creole woman happy.
To Market, To Market
I needed to pick up a turkey (for the stock), a couple of ham steaks (for the red beans), and onions, green peppers and celery (because, like stock, the Louisiana "trinity" is in almost everything I cook). So on Saturday, it was off to Eastern Market, where I buy all of my poultry from Capitol Hill Poultry. Chris and his crew know their business. They have fresh, free-range birds and are always happy to accommodate my carving requests. I picked up a 16-pound turkey ($22).
For other meats, I go to the Union Meat Company. Their beef and pork products are amazing – a tad more expensive than at a supermarket but definitely worth every penny. And you can't get prime beef at most chains. I picked up two ham steaks there for $11. I then grabbed the produce I needed and headed home.
It was now 3 p.m. The turkey would be ready to eat by 8, and the stock would be done at midnight.
The Bird
I like to make stock using a roasted carcass, so I was going to roast the whole bird. I keep the breasts, drumsticks and thighs and throw whatever is left into the stockpot. Here's how I roast a turkey:
A whole turkey (neck and gizzards into the stockpot, liver reserved for another use)
Fresh oregano, rosemary and thyme
1 medium yellow onion (sliced)
1 bulb of garlic (sliced in half, horizontally)
2 cups of water
1/2 of an orange
1 stick of butter
Greek seasoning
3 stalks of celery
3 carrots
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Put the water, herbs, onion and garlic in a small pot, bring to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Wash the turkey very well and pat dry with paper towels, inside and out. Place the celery and carrots in a roasting pan, and put the turkey on top of them.
Using a slotted spoon, remove the aromatics from the steeping water and stuff them inside the turkey with the orange half. Pour the water into the bottom of the roasting pan. Tie the bird's legs together, and tuck the wing tips under. Lift the skin to get to the breast meat and liberally rub with butter. Work your fingers back under the skin for the drumsticks and rub in plenty of butter there, too. Rub butter all over the bird's skin, and then coat liberally with Greek seasoning.
Place the turkey on the bottom rack of the oven. After 30 minutes, remove the turkey and turn the oven down to 350. Insert a probe thermometer into the thickest part of the breast, then cover the breasts with a double layer of heavy-duty foil. Continue roasting until the thermometer reads 170 degrees (or that plastic pop-up thingie pops up), about 3 hours. Remove from the oven, open the tin foil and cover the whole turkey. Let it stand at least 30 minutes before carving.
Mmmm, Gravy!
With the turkey out of the roasting pan, remove the celery and carrots (throw them into the stock pot), and you are left with delicious flavorful crunchies, juices and fat – just the stuff for making gravy. Get rid of most of the fat (I slowly tilt the pan so that the fat pools on top and pour all but a couple of tablespoons out). Put the roasting pan over two burners on the stovetop on low to medium heat. Whisk in two or three tablespoons of flour, turn the heat up a tad, and keep whisking until you have a light-colored roux. Whisk in two cups of stock and you've got gravy.
The Stock
In a large stockpot already holding the neck, gizzards and roasted celery and carrots, add the turkey carcass (with wings), one large onion (quartered), three carrots, two stalks of celery, fresh ground pepper, parsley and whatever other herbs you have around. Cover with water, bring to a boil, and then simmer for four to eight hours. Strain out the solids and you have stock.
That entire process took about nine hours. It's now Sunday afternoon. The soup is finished and the red beans are simmering. I used just less than half of the stock, so there's plenty left for cooking next weekend. I'll post recipes for my soup and beans soon but for now, I'm done.