OT: Boiling Turkey Giblets

[Tom Nakashima]

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, anyone have
a good recipe for turkey gravy?
-tom

[Scott Gordo]

On Nov 15, 9:58 am, "Tom Nakashima" <t...@slac.stanford.edu> wrote:
> With Thanksgiving right around the corner, anyone have
> a good recipe for turkey gravy?
> -tom

Yes indeedy. First, remove your chain and shake it in a 2liter soda
bottle with a couple fingers of degreaser. Get a hot plate and set it
to warm, pour the drained fat and juices into it. Remove chain from
bottle, place into the turkey fat for 5 minutes. Remove chain, let
drip dry. Put chain back on bike, spin cranks 20 or 30 times, and
you're ready for your local turkey burner.

/s

[still just me]

On Thu, 15 Nov 2007 06:58:26 -0800, "Tom Nakashima"
<tom@slac.stanford.edu> wrote:

>With Thanksgiving right around the corner, anyone have
>a good recipe for turkey gravy?
>-tom

Yep. Easy. First toss the giblets. Yeech. You might as well eat
haggis.

Next, cook the turkey. Baste a lot. Pour drippings into a pot when
turkey is done. Maybe even add a little water in the pan and rinse
that into the pot. Add a can of cream of mushroom soup. bring to
boil. If it's too thin, add cornstarch to cold water, mix, slowly pour
into pot until desired thickness is reached. Note that cornstarch
takes a moment to react and that the gravy will continue to thicken on
the heat. Don't overdo it.

[Michael Press]

In article <fhhmqi$le4$1@news.Stanford.EDU>,
"Tom Nakashima" <tom@slac.stanford.edu> wrote:

> With Thanksgiving right around the corner, anyone have
> a good recipe for turkey gravy?

Same as any gravy.
Start the roast at high temperature then lower after 15 min.
Keep a bit of water in the drip pan.
When finished roasting skim fat out of the drip pan
Deglaze the drip pan with wine.
Add water and spice as necessary.
In a mixing bowl combine
4 tablespoon soft butter
4 tablespoon flour
This is your beurre manié
Combine.

There are various ways of adding vegetables to the gravy.
One is to put some carrot, celery, and onion in the drip
pan and sieve after roasting. Another is on the stove top
during roasting. Also can add giblets to the gravy.

Go here for more ideas.
<http://southernfood.about.com/library/holiday/bltggravy.htm>

--
Michael Press

[Peter Cole]

Tom Nakashima wrote:
> With Thanksgiving right around the corner, anyone have
> a good recipe for turkey gravy?
> -tom
>
>

OK, since you asked...

My approach:

While the turkey is roasting, make a small stock with giblets (neck,
liver, heart, gizzard), onion, carrots, celery (pepper, bay leaf, etc.),
simmer for several hours. During the last hour or so of roasting, pierce
the turkey thighs to drain excess fat. When the turkey is done, remove
from pan, scrape/pour drippings into clear container (glass measuring
cup works well), perhaps add a little hot water to assist in cleaning
the pan. Allow drippings to separate. Tent turkey on platter with foil,
it's better to carve after a half hour+ of "rest", anyway.

Gravy is actually a medium sauce, the classic proportions are 1
tablespoon fat & 1 tablespoon starch (flour) to 1 cup of liquid.
Calculate how much you want to make. In a pan, put correct amount of
separated fat with flour and cook gently a few minutes until color just
changes (roux). Slowly add stock (augment with canned chicken stock as
necessary), stirring/whisking constantly. Add separated drippings (from
bottom of cup -- no additional fat). Dice the liver finely and add,
along with seasonings (maybe thyme, marjoram, sage) and perhaps some
diced onion. Simmer for a half hour or so. Strain. Correct seasoning and
thickness. If too thin, add a little cornstarch (or flour) mixed with
cold water/stock, if too thick, thin with stock. Be sure to cook at
least 10-15 min after adding starch.

Another tip: I always remove all meat & stuffing after the meal & seal
in air tight containers. The carcass goes into a stock pot with the
usual carrot, onion and celery and get simmered for 12+ hrs. This is
strained, skimmed and then reduced to a very concentrated stock (syrupy
consistency). This concentrate is pored into ice cube tray(s) and
frozen, then popped out and ziplocked in the freezer.

The concentrated stock ("semi-demi") is very handy to add depth of
flavor to any brown sauce or gravy. I generally fortify my gravy with
some I have previously made. You can get a similar effect with reduced
commercial stock, but you will usually also get lots of salt as well as
inferior flavor. A gravy/sauce is only as good as the stock it is made from.

A tactical note: Since gravy can't be made until bird is done, things
can get a little hectic. The secret to success here is to do what
commercial kitchens do which is to prep everything in advance and have
it laid out. I usually have a bunch of little bowls with chopped onion,
spices, salt, pepper, flour, etc. set up beforehand. You don't want to
be opening cabinets and juggling canisters while someone else is trying
to mash the vegetables.

Since this is a technical forum, a word on sauce chemistry: What you are
trying to achieve is a colloidal suspension of (cooked) starch
particles. The emulsifying action comes from coating the particles with
fat before they absorb the fluid (hence roux or beurre manié). Done
properly, they won't clump. With the right proportions, the sauce will
not separate.

[landotter]

On Nov 15, 8:58 am, "Tom Nakashima" <t...@slac.stanford.edu> wrote:
> With Thanksgiving right around the corner, anyone have
> a good recipe for turkey gravy?

Drippings, flour, milk, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, salt. It's not
rocket science but it is art. First acquire a dog to feed giblets to,
and for snuggling with after a nice turkey dinner, it's all downhill
from there.

[datakoll]

On Nov 15, 9:58 am, "Tom Nakashima" <t...@slac.stanford.edu> wrote:
> With Thanksgiving right around the corner, anyone have
> a good recipe for turkey gravy?
> -tom

THINK BLENDER

[Ozark Bicycle]

On Nov 15, 9:25 am, still just me <wheeledBobNOS...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 15 Nov 2007 06:58:26 -0800, "Tom Nakashima"
>
> <t...@slac.stanford.edu> wrote:
> >With Thanksgiving right around the corner, anyone have
> >a good recipe for turkey gravy?
> >-tom
>
> Yep. Easy. First toss the giblets. Yeech. You might as well eat
> haggis.
>
> Next, cook the turkey. Baste a lot. Pour drippings into a pot when
> turkey is done. Maybe even add a little water in the pan and rinse
> that into the pot. Add a can of cream of mushroom soup.

Or a can of toxic waste, whichever is cheaper or easier.....


> bring to
> boil. If it's too thin, add cornstarch to cold water, mix, slowly pour

......down the drain.

[alanstew@sbcglobal.net]

>still just me:
> Yep. Easy. First toss the giblets. Yeech. You might as well eat
> haggis.

Hey, what's wrong with haggis? Some of us were practically raised on
it.
Alan Stewart

[Ted Bennett]

still just me wrote:

> "Tom Nakashima"wrote:
>
> >With Thanksgiving right around the corner, anyone have
> >a good recipe for turkey gravy?
>
> Yep. Easy. First toss the giblets. Yeech. You might as well eat
> haggis.
>
> Next, cook the turkey. Baste a lot. Pour drippings into a pot when
> turkey is done. Maybe even add a little water in the pan and rinse
> that into the pot. Add a can of cream of mushroom soup.

Okay, that's where I lose interest. Any recipe that starts with a can of
condensed cream of soup is not for real cooks.

Ted

--
Ted Bennett

[still just me]

On Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:53:59 -0800 (PST), Ozark Bicycle
<bicycleatelier@ozarkbicycleservice.com> wrote:

>> Yep. Easy. First toss the giblets. Yeech. You might as well eat
>> haggis.
>>
>> Next, cook the turkey. Baste a lot. Pour drippings into a pot when
>> turkey is done. Maybe even add a little water in the pan and rinse
>> that into the pot. Add a can of cream of mushroom soup.
>
>Or a can of toxic waste, whichever is cheaper or easier.....
>
>> bring to
>> boil. If it's too thin, add cornstarch to cold water, mix, slowly pour
>
>.....down the drain.

Hey "men cooking", need I say more? If you have a better recipe,
please post.

[Ozark Bicycle]

On Nov 15, 12:58 pm, still just me <wheeledBobNOS...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:53:59 -0800 (PST), Ozark Bicycle
>
> <bicycleatel...@ozarkbicycleservice.com> wrote:
> >> Yep. Easy. First toss the giblets. Yeech. You might as well eat
> >> haggis.
>
> >> Next, cook the turkey. Baste a lot. Pour drippings into a pot when
> >> turkey is done. Maybe even add a little water in the pan and rinse
> >> that into the pot. Add a can of cream of mushroom soup.
>
> >Or a can of toxic waste, whichever is cheaper or easier.....
>
> >> bring to
> >> boil. If it's too thin, add cornstarch to cold water, mix, slowly pour
>
> >.....down the drain.
>
> Hey "men cooking", need I say more? If you have a better recipe,
> please post.

Make some turkey stock (turkey wings, necks, backs, etc,. plus onions,
carrots, celery and...) a few days in advance. Cool and defat. Take
twice the amount of stock needed for the gravy, and reduce by half.
Baste turkey with remaining stock. Add pan drippings to reduced stock.
Reheat. Thicken with your choice of cornstarch/flour/roux, etc. If yer
in the mood add some fresh herbs (e.g., chopped fresh sage) just
before serving. Oh, yeah, add the giblets, too. ;-)

Send the can of condensed cream of mushroom soup to Bush's favorite
general in Pakistan and hope he eats it 'straight'.

[still just me]

On Thu, 15 Nov 2007 13:31:08 -0800 (PST), Ozark Bicycle
<bicycleatelier@ozarkbicycleservice.com> wrote:

>Send the can of condensed cream of mushroom soup to Bush's favorite
>general in Pakistan and hope he eats it 'straight'.

What have you got against cream of mushroom? The stuff I used isn't
that evil and doesn't have any more chemicals than the typical
preserved product these days.

How the heck you gonna live a long time if you don't consume some
preservatives?

[Ozark Bicycle]

On Nov 15, 4:14 pm, still just me <wheeledBobNOS...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 15 Nov 2007 13:31:08 -0800 (PST), Ozark Bicycle
>
> <bicycleatel...@ozarkbicycleservice.com> wrote:
> >Send the can of condensed cream of mushroom soup to Bush's favorite
> >general in Pakistan and hope he eats it 'straight'.
>
> What have you got against cream of mushroom? The stuff I used isn't
> that evil and doesn't have any more chemicals than the typical
> preserved product these days.

Think about that last part......

Plus, it tastes like ****e. :-((

(If you wanna add [real] mushroome to your gravy, by all means do so.)

>
> How the heck you gonna live a long time if you don't consume some
> preservatives?


You can have my share.

[still just me]

On Thu, 15 Nov 2007 17:15:06 -0800, Ted Bennett
<tedbennett@earthlink.net> wrote:

>Okay, that's where I lose interest. Any recipe that starts with a can of
>condensed cream of soup is not for real cooks.

Who ever said anything about "real cook" ?

:-)

[Peter Cole]

landotter wrote:
> On Nov 15, 8:58 am, "Tom Nakashima" <t...@slac.stanford.edu> wrote:
>> With Thanksgiving right around the corner, anyone have
>> a good recipe for turkey gravy?
>
> Drippings, flour, milk, Worcestershire sauce, pepper, salt. It's not
> rocket science but it is art. First acquire a dog to feed giblets to,
> and for snuggling with after a nice turkey dinner, it's all downhill
> from there.

Does Gravytrain come in turkey?