Turkey Leftover Magic

(Ed:  This is a recycled post from Thanksgiving 2005.   Sorry for the lack of posting here lately - I've lost my digital camera.   A certain slacker I know has tons of my food pictures but has been remiss in sending them to me.   Write me a rude comment below so I can use them as motivation for her).

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. 

As you may expect, I did a decent amount of holiday cooking.  My family doesn't really like me to experiment on Thanksgiving, which is understandable (I guess).  So I won't get carried away with pictures of a roasted turkey or mashed potatoes.  Instead, I'll share possibly the best thing I ate over the entire holiday and wine filled weekend.  I made a stock with the turkey bones the day after Thanksgiving, something which I find an absolute must.  Throwing away the turkey bones should be a criminal offense, punishable by a lifetime of Taco Bell gordita consumption. After I made the stock, skimmed it and removed as much of the fat as possible, I decided to make turkey meatballs with finely chopped leftover shreds and pieces of turkey white and dark meat that are always lying around.   I mixed the meat with an egg, parm cheese, parsley and formed them into meatballs.  I seared them in a pan of olive oil and then let them reheat in the turkey stock.  No need to get fancy with this - just season the stock with salt and pepper, toss in your meatballs and a handful of grated parm cheese to finish.

Edit: Cindy's comment below reminded me to post my chicken and meatball brodo dish, created from a similar stock based recipe.  Cindy's right, it's easy and worth the effort to make your own stocks at home, especially on a cold winter afternoon or night.  And even easier, my ham hock stock recipe for a variation.

Comments

[Cindy]

That looks wonderful. I made turkey stock for the first time this year and it was fantastic (made great turkey soup with gnocchi) -- I only wish we hadn't eaten it all already. Will have to try the meatballs next year.

[joe]

gnocchi sounds like a good idea, will have to try it out. maybe gnudi even?

http://blog.foodienyc.com/2005/01/lobster_gnudi.html