IT WAS A TURKEY OF A WEEK

Every year my employer gives each of us a turkey for Thanksgiving. I tend to put mine in the freezer for later since I go to my daughter’s house for Thanskgiving dinner. Not this year though.

It’s taken six decades but, I’ve finally admitted out loud and without shame, that I’m really not that fond of roast turkey. At Thanksgiving dinner, I will take an obligatory piece of turkey but really, it’s the sides I enjoy.

Having said that, I decided to do something different with last November’s turkey. This past week was when that plan was finally carried out and I have worked on something turkey-related every evening of the week.

FIRST NIGHT: GROUND TURKEY

We cut off as much meat from the turkey as we could.

It didn’t matter that we aren’t skilled at deboning a raw turkey (or chicken either). The pieces didn’t have to look pretty, we just wanted to get as much meat as possible off the bones.

Then I ran it through the meat grinder attachment on my KitchenAid. I am grateful my friends at Wilding Acres Farm let me borrow the attachment, so I didn’t have to buy one just for this project!

Once ground, I seasoned the bowl of meat with 1 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, and paprika plus 2 teaspoons each of Italian seasoning, garlic powder and onion powder. Then I made 1/2 cup “pucks” of the mixture and froze them.

I got 19 half-cup servings of ground turkey. I will be able to take a puck or two out of the freezer to make casseroles, etc. That part is still a mystery though as I’ve never cooked with ground chicken or turkey before. Next, I need to find some recipes that use ground poultry!

SECOND NIGHT: ROASTER

I put the carcass in the roaster, filled it with water, and cooked it down overnight.

THIRD NIGHT: PICK THE BONES

I poured the broth into large bowls and removed every scrap of meat from the bones that I could. It was surprising how much meat was left on the turkey carcass!

FOURTH NIGHT: TURKEY SOUP

I layered canning jars with raw onion, celery, and carrot and topped it with cooked turkey meat, 1/4 teaspoon pepper powder, 1/2 teaspoon each of Italian seasoning and salt, and water. Then I pressure canned them.

I now have 5 pints of turkey soup base ready to make some warm soup for a cold winter’s night or to take to a sick friend. There are also 2 cups of cooked turkey meat in the freezer.

FIFTH NIGHT: BROTH

Really, this part took place on the third, fifth, and sixth night. Each night I would heat up enough broth to fill five jars and then pressure canned them. I ended up with 14 pints of broth on the shelf and 1 pint in the freezer. This will come in handy for any number of meals throughout the year. Even better, instead of paying lots of money for broth at the grocery store, this was essentially free.

TOTAL CANNED: 14 pints broth, 5 pints turkey soup base

TOTAL FROZEN: 9.5 cups seasoned raw ground turkey (frozen in 1/2-cup pucks), 2 cups cooked turkey meat, 1 pint broth

Overall, I had a very satisfying and productive week of food preservation!