When you have more than 15 homestead turkeys in your freezer, it’s relatively easy to explore all the possibilities for delicious turkey preparation. The first post in this series covered two “recipes”; today, I’ll share three more.
Prep #3 — Bone Broth
You can’t roast a chicken or turkey without making bone broth. There’s nothing more delicious, and honestly, bone broth was probably the thing that excited me most about the prep of our homestead turkeys.
I usually make bone broth in the slow cooker, but the carcass from my first roasted turkey was so large that there was no way it was fitting into my biggest one. I actually struggled to fit it into my 4-gallon stock pot at first, but after about six hours of simmering, I was able to push the frame below the water line. I simmered that first pot of stock for about two days, and it was amazing!
Prep #4 — Tamale Pie
Some of us were chatting on Zello one afternoon about homemade tamales. I love tamales, but I’ve always had the impression that they’re very labor-intensive to make. As we talked though, it occurred to me that tamale pie is a thing, and I wondered out loud about how it’d taste if I made it with turkey.
I found a recipe that looked pretty straight-forward. Instead of ground beef, I used shredded turkey from my bone broth, and I added an entire can of chipotle chiles because we really enjoy spicy food. I have to say, the concoction was pretty darned tasty, and I’ll definitely make it again.
Prep #5 — Broccoli, Rice, Cheese and Turkey Casserole
I’ve had cheesy broccoli and rice casseroles in the past, so I thought I’d try one with some of our roasted turkey. While I couldn’t quite bring myself to use Velveeta, I did follow the gist of a recipe I found online. My half steam table pan was almost overflowing with amazing casserole goodness, and that too is a dish that I will certainly prepare again!
Related Links
- Trying for Turkey 20 Ways — Days 1-3
- Save with Sarah — Slow Cooker Soup Stock — one of many ways to make quality bone broth
- Easy Tamale Pie Recipe — the recipe on which I based my tamale casserole
- Broccoli, Rice, Cheese, and Chicken Casserole — the recipe on which I based my turkey casserole