Crock Pot Turkey
| Sat Sat | Fat | Chol | Carb | Calories | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turkey Breast (Bone-in or Boneless) | 3 | 10 | 844 | 1510 | |
| ¼ cup | Margarine (Promise Light - melted) | 3 | 15 | 0 | 135 | |
| Salt to taste | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Water | ||||||
| Total (g): | 6 | 25 | 844 | 0 | 1645 | |
| Servings: | 8 | |||||
| Per Serving (g): | 0.8 | 3.1 | 105.5 | 0.0 | 205.6 |
Giblet Gravy
| Sat Sat | Fat | Chol | Carb | Calories | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turkey Heart | 0 | 1 | 40 | 27 | |
| 1 | Turkey Neck | 0 | 1 | 9 | 16 | |
| ¼ | Onion (very large diced) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | |
| 2 stalks | Celery (very large diced) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |
| Salt to taste | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 3 cups | Water | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 tbsp | Canola Oil | 1 | 14 | 0 | 120 | |
| 2 tbsp | Flour | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | |
| Total (g): | 1 | 16 | 49 | 0 | 216 | |
| Servings: | 8 | |||||
| Per Serving (g): | 0.1 | 2.0 | 6.1 | 0.0 | 27.0 |
Directions
- Remove all skin and fat from the turkey (if using a full turkey, remove the skin from the breast, thigh, and meaty portion of the leg)
- A bone-in turkey breast also works well (just remove the skin and visible fat - leave it bone-in)
- Place the turkey in the crock pot
- Add enough water to cover the bottom of the crock pot about 1/4-inch
- Brush the melted margarine over the turkey
- Cook on low for 8 hours
Giblet Gravy Directions
- Bring the water to a boil.
- Add the heart, neck, onion, and celery.
- Gently boil for 30 minutes. If water reduces to less than 2 cups, add more water.
- Remove the celery and onion from the water (with a slotted spoon or ladle).
- In another pot, mix the flour and oil into a roux. Cook for about 1 minute on medium heat - the flour should be cooked but not browning.
- Add about 1 cup of drippings from the turkey and 1 cup of onion/celery water to a measuring cup
- Add drippings/water to the roux some at a time. If the gravy is still too thick, add more drippings/water to make a good consistency to the gravy.
- (Optional) Dice the heart and remove as much meat from the neck as possible. Add to the gravy.
Comments
- This is about as close to an oven-roasted turkey as you will get in a low fat version, very close and very good.
- Some people sprinkle the turkey with their favorite spices
- An inexpensive method is to buy a 12-lb turkey, thaw it in the refrigerator, then cut the meat off and remove all skin, fat and bones. It makes a bit of a mess, but you get a lot of turkey for little cost. I suspect the saturated fat and cholesterol with this method is a little less than what's reported above since you are removing the fat yourself, but the numbers are as close as I can find. I put the turkey in a small cooler that was just a perfect fit for the turkey and filled it with water. It thaws in about 2 days. The frozen turkey keeps the water a few degrees above freezing (colder than a refrigerator) and it saves on refrigerator space. You can refreeze the unused half or make a double portion.
- If you are used to turkey drippings from an oven-roasted turkey to make gravy, there will be very little from this recipe (no fat and just flavored water), just what water cooks out of the turkey and the little water added to start with. Maybe enough to make about 2 cups of gravy (by adding more water to the gravy in addition to the drippings). Turkey heart and skinless neck are low in fat and cholesterol. The gizzard is low in fat (1 g sat. fat) but high in cholesterol (195 mg). Liver is high in fat (6 g sat. fat) and cholesterol (331 mg) - leave it out of any giblet gravy.
- Original recipe: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1739,154178-247206,00.html