Monday 11 November 2013

A bit of a bargain

Elaine over at Mortgage Free in Three had shown us how she had cooked a jointed, whole turkey leg, she had purchased from Morrisons for £3. We were going there the other day so looked out for them but the offer was finished and they were now £4.50. Still a bargain though as they are huge. The pack weighed 1.6 kg.

She had suggested cooking them on high in a slow cooker for 5 hours. DB had to saw the drumstick into two pieces as we just couldn't fit it all in and our slow cooker is one of the old large ones! Anyhow, I chopped up an onion, picked 3 fresh bay leaves, added 6 black peppercorns and 1 litre of hot but not boiling water.

I set the timer for 2 1/2 hours and turned them over when it bleeped.

After another 2 1/2 hours, the small part of the drumstick was ready. After another 30 minutes the top part of the drumstick was done and 30 minutes after that, the thigh seemed ok. So for us, 6 hours on high. Here they are cooling down enough to be picked. 
The first meat stripping yielded .600 kg. We couldn't strip all the meat as the thigh needed a little longer to be falling off the bone!

We strained the liquid as soon as the meat came out and ended up with 1.5 litres of lovely basic stock. To it we added 1 good tablespoon of Elaine's home made stock base plus 1 chicken cube. Now it tastes really good. We covered and left the jug in the fridge overnight and a semi gelatinous stock was ready in the morning. 3 bags containing 4 ladles worth were put into the freezer.


The bones and any meat attached to them were simmered for an hour then strained. This yielded another 1/5 litres of base stock towards a nice turkey and vegetable soup.
Any meat left on the bones was stripped off and left to go cold. It will be used for sandwich filling or popped into some soup when served so it doesn't get boiled for a third time!


I don't know about you, but if I spend almost a whole day in the kitchen, I usually don't feel like eating. Although DB was hungry, we both just had a cup of tea and some toast with the bread for our evening 'meal'!


13 comments:

  1. When I was a single mum (and ate meat) I used to buy turkey legs to roast for our Sunday dinner or I would make a turkey and leek pie. They have always been such good value, but I haven't thought about them for a long time. Perhaps I can get hubby to eat them. xxx

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  2. Turkey is such good value for money, and, as you say, the stock is wonderful.

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    1. I'm planning on mincing what is left and turning it (with a little turkey and vegetable soup to ,oisten the mixture) and make a few small pies.

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  3. Do you know, I am ashamed to say, though I know what a bargain it is, I cannot bear turkey unless it has been roasted, and on Christmas day! I couldn't boil one to save my life, and I know how illogical that sounds, and yours looks really tasty. I wonder why I have this mental block to stewed turkey?

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    1. I think it really needed more cooking as it is not as 'soft' as I'd hoped. Better luck next time. We can only eat what we fancy, maybe you were a turkey in another life:)

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  4. Excellent value for money, good way of cooking too, slow cookers keep all the moisture in as well as making all that lovely stock. I agree with you, when I 've been in the kitchen all day I feel as though Ive been soaking up the food and never feel hungry when I have finished cooking.

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    1. I wondered if they could be steamed as an alternative although it would use more fuel.

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  5. Tea and toast is always inviting and often will be enough after a busy morning in the kitchen or garden. My late mum always made a point of using the bones for making into stock and this has rubbed off onto me. I can't bear throwing away the carcass because I know she'd be cross if she knew!
    Patricia x

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    1. We always have tea and toast if we don't feel up to anything else. Always use bones for stock if I can. Our local butcher (not that we use him much these days as our meat consumption has dwindled), always has lovely big beef bones.

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  6. I had black coffee and toast for lunch today. It was what I fancied and I really enjoyed it. The last time I bought one of those turkey legs it was 50p! It was a very long time ago though!!

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    1. Well, you know what they say, a little bit of what you fancy does you good. 50p eh, mind you, it was probably the equivalent to £4 in today's money!
      Hopefully KL is better now?

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    2. Thanks for your reply Scarlet.

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