I have been making lots of turkey stock over the past few weeks. Whole Foods has a large inventory of turkey wings and legs in the meat department these days. I just can't get enough of this very rich, delicious, and extremely flavorful stock! I have been making soups, used it for my make-ahead gravy recipe, and will be using it for my stuffing. I love the dark meat that comes from the legs. I have been adding it to soups, rice pilaf, and turkey pie - yum! This is a very easy recipe - just a little bit of work yields amazing results!
Turkey Stock
3-5 lbs of Turkey wings or legs (or a combination of the two)
2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
several sprigs of fresh Italian parsley
2-3 carrots, peeled and cut in half
2-3 parsnips, peeled and cut in half
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1 bay leaf
12-16 cups water
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange wings/legs in a single layer in a large roasting pan, scatter onions over top. Roast for 1 ½ hours until wings/legs are browned.
Remove wings, legs, and onions from roasting pan to a 5-to 6-qt stock pot. Also add carrots, parsnips, peppercorns, bay leaf, and parsley sprigs to stock pot.
Place roasting pan over moderate heat and add 1 cup water to roasting pan, bring to simmer and stir/scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of roasting pan. Once pan is deglazed add the liquid to stock pot.
Add 10-12 cups of water to stock pot and bring to a boil over moderate heat. Reduce to simmer and let simmer, uncovered for 3 hours.
Remove meat pieces and place in dish or bowl. Save meat for another use. Remove any large vegetables to a bowl and discard. Strain (with strainer and cheese cloth) the broth into a large bowl, pressing any vegetable pieces to extract as much liquid as possible.
Refrigerate broth overnight or until completely cool. OR use right away! Keeps for a week in the refrigerator or frozen for several months.
