Well, I hope you enjoyed all of my posts about our Toikey Day dinner, maybe you got something out of them. Not anything worth money, such as diamond engagement rings or anything, but some good, practical advice.
Anyhoo, everything turned out very well. But we’re not done yet! Remember my post about slow-cooker turkey stock? Well, now, how’s about slow-cooker turkey stock, part deux?
After we had our feast, I used my electric knife to dismantle the leftover turkey, and wrapped up slices of breast meat in one big piece of aluminum foil, and drums/wings in another. That left me with a turkey carcass with plenty of meat still stuck to it. This is NOT to be thrown away…not yet.
I hacked up the carcass into small enough pieces, and put them all into my 5 quart crock-pot. We had a 13 pound turkey, it fit very nicely. I had some of the original slow-cooker turkey stock left over after using it for stuffing and gravy, so I poured that into the cooker. Then I topped it off with some plain old H2O, put the lid on, and let it cook on LOW all day. If you didn’t make any turkey stock, or just don’t have any left over, just use all water.
Any meat that is left on the bones will fall right off after a good long cooking like this. Strain the liquid into a pot, then put it into the sink (with the drain plug in), run cold water AROUND it, this will make it cool down quicker. When it is cooled down, refrigerate.
As for the solids in the colander, when they are cool enough to handle, you need to pick through them and dispose of any bones or skin…any skin that’s been cooked in liquid that long gets all nasty and gummy. There should be a good deal of meat left, and this you will use for turkey soup, turkey hash, turkey pot pie, turkey a la king (I sound like the Old Man in the movie A Christmas Story, don’t I?).
Soup is the easiest thing to make with these leftovers. What I like to do is take some of the stock, put in in a large pot, and bring to the boil. Throw in some egg noodles, and cook them in the stock. Then throw in a box or bag of mixed frozen veggies (which should be thawed first). You know, the variety that contains a mixture of green beans, peas, carrots, corn, and such. And then add some turkey meat. Season with salt and pepper and whatever else, to taste. Exact amounts aren’t important, it depends on how much stock and meat you have sitting around. Use your own good judgement.
Enjoy! 
