Better Flavor With No Hassle (Turkey Stock, Braised Brussel Sprouts)

Just a quick note here, since Thanksgiving is here and for some reason I took a catering gig on Friday.  The Fresh Fun Foods kitchen is a busy place and the Fresh Fun Foods fridge is stuffed to the gills.  When you are cooking tomorrow, be sure to make a quick turkey stock from the neck and wing tips of the bird.  Use peelings for flavor.  Why throw them out?  That’s what chefs do.  There is really nothing that you can do to help out your meal like making stock and using it in your gravy, to baste the turkey and to braise brussel sprouts.  

Turkey Stock

turkey neck and wing tips

1 gallon cold water

1/2 cup onion peelings

1/2 cup carrot peelings

the trimmings from celery, bottom and leaves

1 clove garlic, crushed

pinch fresh thyme

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 bay leaf

This is a quick stock where clarity is not paramount, so we’ll take a few shortcuts.  It will be perfect for our Thanksgiving needs. 

Combine all ingredients in a large stockpot.  Turn the heat on medium and bring the stock to a simmer in about 30 minutes.  Skim off the froth that rises to the top.  Reduce the heat and simmer lightly for 60 minutes.  Strain the stock through a fine strainer and pick the meat from the neck to chop and use in your gravy.

Baste your turkey with this stock by pouring a 1/2 cup over the turkey every 30 minutes (or when you think about it).  This way, you will have a deeply caramelized bird and a pre reduced pan juice to magically turn into gravy using Grandma’s flawed recipe.  At least this way you’ll have concentrated flavor to start out. 

Additionally, consider braising your brussel sprouts in turkey stock.  Score the bottom of the sprouts and blanch them as you normally do.  In the mean time, peel and chop a carrot and some onion.  Sauté them in a large pan.  Maybe add some bacon?  Drain the sprouts and add them to the pan, season with salt and plenty of fresh black pepper.  Cover the bottom of the pan with about 1/2 inch of stock and braise them uncovered in a 350° oven for 20 minutes. You can do everything except the braising the day before.  Resist the temptation to roll sprouts in olive oil and char them all to hell in a blazing oven.  I don’t know where this came from.  It is a poor technique that produces dried out veg coated in bitter ashes.  Drizzling them with Balsamic vinegar doesn’t make you Mario Batali.

…and no matter what the experts say about brining turkeys, don’t do it.  It’s evil, immoral and wrong, a tacky fashionable trend that ruins the pan juices that you need to make a proper gravy.  Just use a thermometer and take the turkey out when it reads 160°.  Rest the thing for 20 minutes before carving.  That’ll give you plenty of time to eat the crispiest skin before your jerk brother does.