Cooking a turkey on top of the stove is the best way to stretch your grocery dollars. Not only do you end up with a rich turkey broth that you can use for soup, gravy, or sauces, you also get pounds of meat to put in casseroles, salads, and sandwiches. It takes a few hours and can get a bit messy but it is well worth all the mess.
Instructions
1. Have the frozen turkey cut into four quarters. This way you can fit the pieces into a large soup pot as well as use a piece to roast for a more traditional meal. Thaw the turkey in the refrigerator overnight before cooking it on top of the stove.
2. Place the thawed turkey into the bottom of a large soup pot. Add two large peeled onions, four large peeled carrots, and four peeled whole cloves of garlic. Fill the pot with water until it covers the turkey by about two inches. Toss in a combination of fresh dill, oregano, basil, or sage from your garden. Add a dash of salt. Bring the mixture to a boil.
3. Reduce the heat after the mixture boils. Allow it to simmer for several hours until the meat is so tender that it falls off the bones. You can plan for this to require about 30 minutes per pound.
4. Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat, bones, and vegetables from the broth. Discard the bones and the vegetables. Remove the turkey skin from the rest of the meat and discard it. Cut the meat into bite sized pieces. These are ready to serve with a tangy gravy and mashed potatoes or noodles. Store the rest of the meat in one-meal portion sizes in freezer bags.
5. Chill the broth for several hours. This will cause the turkey fat to rise to the top of the liquid and solidify in a layer that you can pull off with your fingers. Throw away the fat. The remaining broth can be frozen in double zip closing plastic freezer bags to be used as the base.
Tags: bones vegetables, freezer bags, large peeled, large soup, rest meat, several hours
