Rosie Makes A Turkey Stock.

I was reading Michael Ruhlman's blog about making turkey stock in the oven and thought I'd give it a try. I started on this last Monday, November 30, the day Mama died. Then had to put it on hold until Saturday, when I started on the next step.

I got as much meat off the turkey carcass as possible, then took my cleaver and hacked the bones into pieces.

I covered the cleavered carcass with water and placed it in a 180 degree oven overnight - about 16 hours. While I was boning the turkey, I went ahead and cut the meat off my ham too. Time for a sub.

Mr. Hawthorne piled ham and turkey slices on a sub roll, added lettuce from the garden, tomato slices, melted cheese, black olives, sliced onions, some chopped jalapenos, and some pickled peppers.

Almost forgot the pickle. Now that's a sub. Lunch last Monday, November 30. These small details etch themselves on your brain. Acid sizzles.

Back to my stock. After baking at 180 degrees for about 16 hours, then refrigerating the whole while I left town, I came back home and started on the stock again. 4 carrots 1 large onion 2 shallots 6 cloves garlic 1 TB peppercorns 2 TB tomato paste bay leaves handful of assorted thymes parsley

I coarse-chopped the carrots, onion, shallots, and garlic.

Veggies got added to the pot, along with their skins.

Herbs went in.

And the peppercorns. This went back into my oven at 180 degrees for another 8 hours.

I put this back into the fridge so any fats would coagulate and I could skim them off the next day. But there really wasn't much fat at all.

Mr. Hawthorne poured the stock through 2 strainers.

Then it went through cheese cloth.

Here's my turkey stock. I could've made turkey consomme at this point by adding egg whites, bringing to a bare simmer, letting the impurities adhere to the "raft," and ending up with a perfectly beautiful, shimmering, jewel-like product, but I was tired.

Three and a half quarts are good. These went into the freezer downstairs. Yes. I know. I'm trying to clean it out. But at least I'm ready if Marilyn ever visits me, since she's allergic to chicken but can eat turkey.