First we found a half gallon of turkey stock in the freezer that was made from last Thanksgiving's turkey carcass. After we finished the feast last year, I took the carcass and put it into a big pot and filled it almost to the top with water. This picture is of the 2013 turkey carcass cooking down to make next years's stock.
I heated the contents to a boil and then lowered it to a simmer and let it go all day. The result was a 64 ounces of turkey stock that I strained and froze. Jonathan put this turkey stock into a large pot and simmered it all afternoon, skimming the impurities that accumulate on the surface every hour or so. The result was about a pint of pure turkey flavor, which congealed into a gelatin over night. This concentrate evoked all of the flavor of the smoked turkey from 2012. We used this to make the gravy which allowed us to make the gravy even before the turkeys from 2013 were ready to take off of the grill where they were cooking all day outside.
The second flavor enhancement was the roux which was also made the day before Thanksgiving. Jonathan combined equal parts of flour and unsalted butter in a heavy bottomed pan and gently cooked this over low heat for 4 hours, periodically stirring it and checking the color that was developing.
Usually a roux is cooked just long enough to remove the flour taste, or longer to create a darker roux for some creole dishes. The aroma of this four hour roux reminded me of caramel. It was also added to the gravy this year.
Finally when beginning this year's gravy, Jonathan sauteed in butter the turkey liver, heart and gizzard which had been minced very finely. He also added minced shiitake mushrooms that were left over from his mushroom soup. Once these ingredients were cooked, the reduced stock, now a gelatin, could be added. The gelatin was warmed and a small amount was added to some of the roux to change it to a sauce like consistency and the roux was added to the giblet/mushroom mixture. Cream was added and this year's gravy was done. Normally when making a gravy one begins with the roux. Since the roux was already made, sauteing the giblets and mushrooms was the beginning.
Two turkeys were stuffed with an apple sausage suffing (also contains mushrooms, celery, onions, bacon, sourdough bread, cornbread, thyme and sage) and placed on the grill for 5 hours.
When they are done, they are a deep brown.
Collards seasoned with salt pork, beer, cider vinegar cook inside. It is a challenge to put the lid on top of the pot with all of the collards inside. Even had to tip the beer to get it poured into the pot. As soon as the bottle was empty, the top was put on the pot and the collards cooked for about 4 hours. Even people who never liked collards love these!
Turkey day is done now and the next task will be cooking down this year's carcass to make the savory beginning for next year's gravy!
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
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