In this installment, I want to give you a “quick and dirty” way to carve a turkey. The goal is to get a bunch of meat, and spend as little time doing it as possible….
Now: this is assuming you’ve let your bird cool for about 20 minutes, and you’ve got a decent knife to carve with. Here’s a pic from the folks at Butterball:
Step 1.
Cut band of skin holding drumsticks. Grasp the end of the drumstick. Then place a knife between drumstick/thigh and body of the turkey, and cut through skin to joint. Remove entire leg by pulling out and back, using the point of the knife to disjoin it. Separate the thigh and drumstick at the joint.
Step 2.
Insert fork in upper wing to steady turkey. Make a long horizontal cut above wing joint through to body frame. Wing may be disjointed from body, if desired.
Step 3.
Slice straight down with an even stroke, beginning halfway up the breast. When knife reaches the cut above the wing joint, slice should fall free on its own.
Step 4.
Continue to slice breast meat easily by starting the cut at a higher point each time.Enjoy,
TO FREEZE:
Freeze the cooked meat for up to 6 months (three is better) in a nice freezer bag or a piece of tight-sealing tupperware—-you can toss it in with your mac’n'cheese, make turkey salad sandwhiches, or make any number of casseroles. Then there’s always the ole turkey with taters and gravy fallback. I will try to post at least one “Leftover Turkey” recipe shortly. SIDEBAR: Some who like to cook at home more will boil the bones and save the broth for soups and gravies and what-not as well—–feel free to use it all up and really get your monies’ worth!
~Penny
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