How to Carve a Turkey...

On Thanksgiving Day there is one minor, not so inconsequential detail left to tend to before dinnertime. Somebody has to carve the turkey! I recently came upon these carving tips to help make it easier to serve your turkey. To make sure you put the perfect finishing touches on your beautiful roasted turkey, you will need a few tools for the task of carving your turkey:

• A good, reliable, sharp knife.
• A long-handled carving fork to hold the bird.
• A large, clean cutting board or work surface on which to carve.
• A good-sized platter for serving.

Just follow these easy steps and enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner:


Step 1
Place bird on a carving board and remove any stuffing. Holding the end of the drumstick, pull the leg away from the body and cut between the thigh joint and body to remove the entire leg. Repeat with other leg.




Step 2
To separate the drumstick and thigh, cut through the connecting joint.




Step 3
Holding the drumstick by the end, slice meat into ¼ -inch slices. Cut thigh meat parallel to the bone into ¼ -inch slices.




Step 4
Hold the bird with a meat fork and make a deep cut into the breast meat just above the wing area.




Step 5
Slice down from the top of the breast into the cut made in Step 4. Slice meat ¼ -inch thick.




Step 6
To remove wings, cut through the connecting joints by the wing bones and backbone.




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Once you have craved up your turkey, save the carcass and use it to make a turkey soup; like the homemade recipe below.

The first thing you need to do is make your turkey stock which is very easy. There are 2 ways you can do this. Do you want a hearty soup with lots of vegetables or one with less vegetables? I prefer a nice hearty soup.

First thing you need to do for this turkey soup recipe is pick the turkey off of the bone and set it a side for later use.

Now put the turkey bones and skin in a large stock pot. Scrape the bottom of the roaster pan and add the scrapings to the pot as well. Fill the pot with about 4 quarts of water. Let it simmer for 3 hours.

Strain the stock.

Now you can stop here if you like and continue the next day by refrigerating it, or you can continue. Either way here is what you will need.


Homemade Turkey Soup

Ingredients:
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
4 celery stalks, chopped
2 Large Onions, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
1 ½ teaspoon Thyme
2 cups turkey,
¼ cup fresh Parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large stock containing your homemade stock, about 3 quarts ~ add the carrots, onions, celery, garlic and simmer for 45 minutes. Then drop in the turkey, parsley and thyme. Simmer for 15 more minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

If you wanted to, you could add some leftover rice and turn your soup into a homemade turkey rice soup.

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George’s notes:
Wishing all a very Happy Thanksgiving Day!
Photographs courtesy of The Aiken (S.C.) Standard