Turkey Stock: A Perfect Substitute

If you're like me, you've been standing in the kitchen for the past two days. You're ready to take time off from the stove and hibernate with your turkey sandwiches and pecan pie for as long as you can stand it. We totally understand. But there's one thing left to do and in a month or so when you're in the thick of soup-simmering season, you'll be glad you went this extra mile.

Once you and your family have whittled down, used, and abused that turkey in every way possible, we invite you to turn on that burner once more. Don't take that carcass and toss it in the trash. Take it and turn up the heat! Honestly, is there any other occasion where you know you're going to have turkey bones lying around? Turkey bones perfect for making stock? Stock that would be perfect to use whenever a recipe asks for chicken broth!? We thought you'd see it our way.

Basic Turkey Stock
Makes about 3 quarts
1 turkey carcass, stripped of the meat, if possible
1 raw turkey neck, if you have one reserved from yesterday's bird
1 onion, halved
2 carrots, chopped in half
3 celery stalks, halved
2 cloves garlic
1/2 bunch parsley stems
cracked black pepper
2 bay leaves

1. Toss the turkey carcass and neck in a big stock pot along with the rest of the ingredients above.

2. Fill the pot with about a gallon of cold water, then turn heat to low and simmer for an hour or two or even up to four hours.

3. Strain the broth and cool to room temperature before putting in the fridge or freezer. The broth will keep for two or three days in the refrigerator or in the freezer for six months.

Need a few tips for storing and freezing stocks or soups? Click here for pointers!

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Well, folks... the kitchen is officially broken in. With the onset of fall, we've been doing lots of cooking with the bounty of rustic, autumnal produce stockpiled for the season. We're talking root vegetables, gourds, apples and pumpkins. Here's a quick peek at what else we've been making besides pumpkin soup.

Chicken over butternut squash risotto



Scallops over lambs lettuce, goat cheese, and roasted beets with a walnut vinaigrette



Homemade sweet potato gnocchi, criminis, and fava beans in a sage cream sauce




Chocolate croissant bread pudding...



...and pumpkin soup! People always seem daunted by working with pumpkins because of the skin and seeds. What they don't realize is that "skinning" a pumpkin is actually just like peeling any other vegetable. For this soup, I skinned a medium-sized pumpkin with a vegetable peeler and threw the whole thing in the oven for a little less than an hour and went to read the paper. It's not as easy as using canned pumpkin, but I wouldn't call it labor intensive either. Why not give it a try while pumpkins are on sale.

Roasted Pumpkin Soup
Serves 2-3

2 Tbsp butter or olive oil*
1-2lb pumpkin, skinned and seeds removed (or 1 can 15 oz. pumpkin puree)
1 large sweet onion, finely chopped
4 carrots, finely chopped
3 Tbsp honey
1/3 c light cream
4 c vegetable stock
1/4 to 1/3 c brown sugar
salt and pepper
cinnamon
nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rinse pumpkin and skin using a vegetable peeler. Poke a few holes in its flesh using a knife or fork. Place whole pumpkin on a small baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Massage with olive oil, salt, pepper and bake for about an hour until soft, checking once or twice to drizzle more oil as needed to prevent it from drying out.

2. Melt butter or olive oil in stockpot over medium-high heat. *Instead of butter or oil, I actually used reserved grease from three sweet Italian sausages I'd prepared earlier in the day. Add onions and carrots. Toss occasionally until they start to caramelize. In the meantime, remove pumpkin from oven, cut open, and scoop out seeds. Discard seeds, top and bottom.

3. Roughly cut up the pumpkin into 1-inch chunks and add to stockpot along with honey and vegetable stock.

4. Stir and season with nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 45 minutes.

5. Puree with an immersion blender or in batches until smooth. Stir in cream. Season to taste with brown sugar, salt, and pepper. Serve.

Get your spoonful of Chad in Cincinnati

Chad, one of our friends and biggest fans in Cincinnati, emailed us this photo after he made one healthy, hearty meal of salmon, beans, and herbs! He's wearing our "get your spoonful" apron! We say DELICIOUS!