Turkey (Carcass) Sausage Gumbo

Yum! What a delicious sounding name for a soup, right?!  Every year for Thanksgiving, my dad Cajun deep frys a turkey.  It literally PAINS me to throw away the turkey carcass after getting every single last bit of turkey off of it because of all the delicious seasonings that are being thrown out. Pains me.

Enter Turkey (Carcass) Sausage Gumbo.  This is a time consuming recipe, I'll be honest.  Probably best suited for a lazy Sunday at home.  It makes quite a bit, but luckily it can be frozen. I'm going out on a limb and assuming any turkey carcass you'll be using WON'T be a cajun seasoned turkey, so I've adjusted this recipe accordingly by adding Cajun seasoning. Just for you! :)

Turkey (Carcass) Sausage Gumbo
Stock
1 turkey carcass
12 cups of water
1 large celery rib with leaves
3 large carrots
1 large onion
1 bay leaf

Soup
1/2 cup of canola oil
1 cup flour
1 large onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 lb andouille sausage, sliced
4 cups leftover turkey,  in bitesized pieces
Okra (I used a bag of frozen okra)
Salt, to taste
Cajun Seasoning, to taste
Hot Sauce

Put turkey carcass in a large stockpot, add water, cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and allow to simmer.  Skim off any foam after 20 minutes. Meanwhile cut celery and carrots into large chunks. Cut onion into large wedges.  Add vegetables, a few pinches of salt and the bay leaf.  Simmer for 2-3 hours.  Strain stock into another pot. Discard veggies and bones.

At this point, you can stop and freeze the stock if you like.  If you'd like to continue on with the gumbo...

Make a roux with the oil and flour. (Heat oil over medium heat, gradually add flour, stirring constantly, until it turns a deep brown, about 30 minutes).  Add the celery, onion, and bell pepper.  This will turn into a gloppy (technical term) mess.  It will all clump together.  Keep stirring for another 5 minutes. Add garlic and stir for another couple minutes.

Add about 3 soup ladles of the hot stock to the roux.  Stir until blended.  Add one ladle at a time until it's well blended.  Add remaining stock. Increase heat until it reaches a boil.  Meanwhile, brown sausage in a pan.  When stock begins to boil, reduce heat, add sausage, okra, Cajun seasoning, and salt, and simmer for 2-3 hours.  Add turkey at the end.  Serve over rice and with hot sauce!

Holiday Candy Bark

I don't like sweet and salty together.  I realize most people do though, so when I'm making a treat for a group that is supposed to be sweet/salty, I'll follow the instructions (begrudgingly).  This recipe can be altered for different holidays.  Since we're so close to Halloween, I took that route.  I would have preferred to use Halloween Oreos, but since I picked up the ingredients ON HALLOWEEN, I seemed to have missed that boat.  Most all of these ingredients come in holiday versions (Oreos, sprinkles, and M&Ms) so this is a quick easy treat that you can match with the season!

Oreos
M&Ms
Sprinkles
Candy corn
Pretzel sticks
Vanilla candy coating (or white chocolate)

Lay parchment or wax paper on a baking sheet.  Spread out your Oreos, pretzel sticks, m&ms, sprinkles, and candy corn down.  How much you use is up to you.  I put three Oreos in a food processor and broke about four more up into chunks by hand.  I'll probably only crush up one or two next time.

Melt vanilla candy coating.  If you use one bag of this, it's not enough, if you use two, it ends up a little thick.  Next time I'll probably do one and a half.  Once candy coating is melted, pour over the other candy on the cookie sheet.  Place in the refrigerator for half an hour or so. To break into pieces, I used a meat tenderizer, placed the pieces into bags, and tied them with ribbon! Viola!

Christmas Candy!

I get carried away with chocolate.  This comes with years and years of working at a restaurant that sold candy decorating supplies...candy thermometers, chocolate molds, chocolate every color of the rainbow, coconut flakes, paramount crystals, and probably 40 different flavors of flavored oil.  I usually plan on one or two chocolate projects, and end up with 10.  The three easiest are peppermint bark, oreo balls, and thin mints. I made all three for a recent potluck.

1.) The peppermint bark is the easiest.  In theory.  I say 'in theory' because making it consists of melting white chocolate and adding red and green peppermint crunch to it.  Finding the peppermint crunch, however, can be difficult.  I have mine mailed to me from Pea-fections each year because I can't find it anywhere else.  I'm certain there are similar substitutes, but I love this kind the best.  Amazon has it here. Once the ingredients are combined, pour it out onto a piece of wax paper and let it dry. Break into pieces and voila, peppermint bark!

2) Oreo balls.  Also very easy to make, and easier to find the ingredients.  Crunch up one bag of Oreos.  I used double stuffed, mainly because the filling is the best part, right?!  Now, by crunch, I mean reeeaally crunch.  I use my Magic Bullet for this.  A food process would work too.  I tried to use a rolling pin (in my house this is an empty wine bottle) and a gallon sized ziplock bag.  This was a disaster for a number of reasons including 1) the pieces didn't get small enough and 2) they stuck to the bag because of the cream filling. Disaster.  Anyway, once they are all crunched up into the consistency of dirt (appetizing, no?) then add a bar of cream cheese and smoosh it all together.  Roll into balls just bigger than a marble, set on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper and freeze for half an hour.  Meanwhile, melt some milk chocolate.  A double broiler is best.  If you don't own one, you can use a microwave.  Just put it in for a minute, take it out, and stir.  Then 30 seconds. Stir. And repeat in 30 second increments.  You do not want to overheat the chocolate.  If it's too thick use some paramount crystals to thin it.  Do NOT use water or milk.  It will cause the chocolate to seize up, basically it becomes the consistency of a brownie and it's ruined. If you didn't plan ahead and buy paramount crystals you can use a few DROPS of oil. Preferably one without a lot of flavor (I use canola.)  Dip half frozen oreo balls into the chocolate with a toothpick. Set on wax paper to dry. If you want a white chocolate drizzle, melt chocolate the same way, and put it in a ziplock back.  Cut the teeny tiniest whole in the corner and drizzle.

3) Last are the thin mints.  Melt dark chocolate and when completely melted, add a few drops of peppermint oil.  Creme de menthe oil also works fabulously, but it's harder to find.  Once this is complete, dip Ritz crackers into the chocolate and set on wax paper to dry.

I like making this combination together because it uses white, milk, and dark chocolate. The thin mints are usually a favorite.  I don't usually do a drizzle on them like I did in the photo above, but I've already admitted I got carried away.  Good luck with your candy making and Merry Christmas!