ME and Ophelia

DO NOT SPAM SCARYDUCK
Unless you want a brilliant reply

Every week, I receive begging emails from people purporting to be in Nigeria and in need of help with lots of money at their disposal.

Trust Scaryduck to send this clever reply to a similar type of spam he received concerning Bosnia. Should you receive spam mentioning Bosnia, please feel free to copy his reply.
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TURKEY SOUP AND GRAVY
By Delia Smith

Following on from my previous post, here are Delia Smith's recipes for:

Turkey giblet stock for gravy - and how to make the gravy.
Turkey carcass stock for soup - and how to make the turkey soup.

Tomorrow, I will add Delia's recipes for roast potatoes, plus two recipes for turkey leftovers:

Creamed chicken with avocado
Creamy chicken curry

If you are following any of these recipes, I want to assure you that I have tried and tested them twice before - they are really excellent. I am posting these recipes ahead of time so you can get your grocery shopping list together.

Source courtesy "Delia Smith's Complete Illustrated Cookery Course" BCA book 1994
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Turkey giblet stock for gravy

the giblets (including the liver) and neck of the turkey
1 onion, sliced in half
a few parsley stalks
a chunk of celery stalk and a few leaves
1 bay leaf
6 whole black peppercorns
salt

Wash the giblets first, then place them in a saucepan with the halved onion, cover with 1.5 pints (850ml) of water and bring to simmering point. Then remove surface scum with a slotted spoon, add the remaining ingredients, half cover the pan and simmer for 1.5 - 2 hours. After that strain the stock, and bring up to boiling point again before using to make the gravy.

How to make the gravy:

Tip all the fat and juices out of the foil into the roasting tin. Spoon off all the fat from the juice in a corner of the tin, then work about 2 tablespoons of flour into the remaining juices over a low heat. Now, using a balloon whisk, whisk in the giblet stock bit by bit, until you have a smooth gravy. Let it bubble and reduce a bit to concentrate the flavour, and taste and season with salt and pepper. (And when you have carved the turkey, pour any escaped juices into the gravy.)

Turkey carcass stock for soup:

For this you need your largest cooking pot.
Break up the carcass as far as you can and add to the pot with:

1 carrot, cut into chunks
1 onion, quartered
1 celery stalk, halved
1 leek, sliced
6 whole black peppercorns
a few parsley stalks
2 pinches dried herbs or 1 sprig fresh thyme
three quarter teaspoon salt

Put in enough cold water to cover, bring up to simmering point, skim and cook for 2 hours. Then strain to make a clear stock for the soup.

TURKEY SOUP

Use 1 lb (450g) vegetables to each pint (570ml) of turkey carcass stock.
Add a combination of chopped:

swede
carrot
onion
leek (sweated in some turkey dripping if you wish)

Simmer these in stock for 1.5 - 2 hours before pureeing, makes a delicious soup.

If I am not able to puree the soup in a food processor, in the last half hour or so I will add:

handful of spaghetti, broken up into half inch pieces, plus
half a pound of pork sausages - taken out of their skins and rolled into tiny little meatballs (no flour or anything else needed).

Ladle into heated soup plates. Garnish with a sprinkle of fresh chopped parsley. Serve with warm crusty wholemeal bread or hot buttered toast.

Note: If your turkey does not contain giblets (and you have no fresh chicken carcass stock) the "Knorr" brand of chicken stock cubes are the best alternative.