Turkey Soup
Despite what the TV and newspapers are telling you, the day after Thanksgiving is not the day to shop. It’s the day to make Turkey Soup. A good soup starts with good stock. In previous blog posts, I’ve talked about making chicken stock in a slow cooker after enjoying a roast chicken. Making a turkey stock is the same deal. You can make it overnight in a slow cooker or on the stove top in an afternoon.
Here’s how to make a good turkey stock.
First, cut all the usable turkey meat from the turkey carcass to save for adding to the soup or other leftovers.
Put the leftover bones and skin into a large stock pot and cover with cold water by an inch. Drippings that weren’t used to make gravy can go in too. Add a yellow onion that has been quartered along with some chopped carrots, parsley, thyme, a bay leaf and some celery tops if you have them.
Bring your stock to a boil and immediately reduce heat to bring it down to just below a simmer. Skim off any foamy crud that may float to the surface of the stock.
Add sea salt and pepper, about 1 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of pepper. It sort of depends on how big your turkey is. You can always add salt to the soup later.
Cook for at least 4 hours, uncovered or partially uncovered (so the stock reduces), skim off any foam that comes to the surface.
Remove the bones and veggies and strain the stock, ideally through a very fine mesh strainer.
Now that you’ve got some good turkey stock, it’s time to make the soup.
This is just like making a chicken soup.
With your stock already made, add chopped carrots, onions, and celery in equal parts. Add some parsley, a couple cloves of garlic. Add seasoning – poultry seasoning, sage, thyme, marjoram, whatever herbs you like.
Cook at a bare simmer until the vegetables are cooked through.
You can add rice, noodles, cooked quinoa, or even leftover mashed potatoes.
Take some of the turkey meat you saved earlier, shred it into bite sized pieces and add to the soup.
You could also add some chopped tomatoes, either fresh or canned.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Sometimes a pinch or two of cayenne pepper gives the soup a nice little kick.
Stay home on Black Friday and enjoy your Turkey Soup!
