the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast: Roasted Turkey Stock

This past week thousands of home cooks across the fruited plain made turkey stock using their favorite recipes; we’ve been doing that thing in our own kitchen literally for decades after Thanksgiving and other turkey feasts, in part to fulfill a tradition we have of making a turkey bone gumbo sometime during the post-holiday festivities.

Well over a decade ago, during our stint in Kalispell (Northwest Montana) running a horse farm, training barn, and show facility (and practicing medicine at the time) I met a guy we named Bib and learned how to up our turkey stock game with his easy technique anyone can master at home.

I wrote about Bib back a few years ago on our fly fishing blog Chi Wulff; here’s an excerpt from that post (and please note the recipe posted at the link was one we used before adopting a Primal nutrition plan)…

Back a few years ago, when the family was living up in the Flathead north of Kalispell, I met a guy nicknamed Bib who lived in a nearby community.

Bib wanted to be a horseman and a welder when he grew up; unfortunately a wayward youth and some very poor decision making led him down the path to becoming an ENT (ear, nose and throat physician), in truth a damned good one.

He forever had a project pony or two that he was working with and dragging around in a beat up two horse trailer pulled by his dilapidated flatbed pickup with the rusty welder-generator unit in back. And yes, he was almost always wearing his trademark bib overalls, even now and again in the hospital.

He was unceasingly late to meetings, swore like a true cowboy and earned his weathered Montana patina the hard way – cutting hay under the endless summer skies and feeding stock year round no matter how cold the wind was blowing.

Of course he could bullshit the feathers off a chicken too.

Bib fly fished a bit though lacked the patience to fish well when things were slow; he’d get fidgety and demand to row, though he’d inevitably get distracted by something and run the boat under a sweeper or right down the lane we’d be trying to fish.

Bib had done part of his training at the infamous Charity Hospital in New Orleans, way back in the day before LSU took it over, and while no doubt he was truly a fish out of water in that setting, he loved his time ‘on the bayou’.

It was there that he learned to make a tried and true roux-based gumbo and he always swore that a roasted turkey carcass made the best gumbo broth. He’d even get friends to save turkey bones for him and he’d round them up, spray with a little olive oil and roast in a 325 degree oven for an hour or so until they were a rich, dark brown. Then into the stock pot they’d go….

He’d then serve his Roasted Turkey Bone Gumbo at a party during the holidays out in his barn; it was a grand time.

(I can hear the scoffs and snickers from the city crowd about folks still having parties in the barn. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. And leave your freakin’ Italian driving moccasins at home.)

This recipe is so danged simple, I’ll just remind you of a few key things to remember in narrative form below.

When making any kind of stock now – turkey, chicken, beef, or vegetable – we take the simple additional step of roasting the bones or veg (in this case the turkey carcass) after a quick spritz with olive or avocado oil in a 375 degree oven for an hour or so until they’re dark and wonderfully aromatic.

That done, we typically drop the roasted carcass in a suitable stock pot, add the aromatics we have on hand, at minimum celery – be sure and include the damned tasty celery leaves from the inner stalks, a large onion – halved, a carrot or two, 4 or 5 peeled garlic cloves, bay leaves, peppercorns, and a sprig or two of fresh thyme (our favorite with turkey) or parsley.

You then simply cover the assembled ingredients with water, bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, then reduce the heat to keep things just simmering until it’s golden brown and richly scented (I typically leave mine on for 3 hours or so). Skim any fat or foam you see.

Strain through a fine mesh strainer (discarding the solids), cool, then throw in the fridge to chill completely (you can remove the fat layer that accumulates in the fridge if you wish). If I’ve made a big batch, I’ll often freeze in 1 quart blocks to have a supply of great stock on hand at all times.

This recipe is so simple to do even a kid could manage this one; we do it reflexly now after roasting or grilling chicken or turkey just about every time.

There are two additional optional steps that Chef Libby reminded me about when discussing this recipe a few days ago, both options add a bit of deeper color and richness to your stock.

One option is to brown your vegetables in the stock pot in a bit of oil before adding the roasted carcass and water; you’re just after a bit of caramelization here. The second option is to add a tablespoon or two of a really good tomato paste to the stock as it cooks down; we love this option when I’m getting stock ready to make tortilla soup or posole when the call for deep Southwestern flavors is over-whelming. By the way, the stock in these images was made by simply roasting the turkey carcass only – not the veg, and I didn’t add tomato paste to this recipe either.

Save those turkey and chicken bones every time…