So the big Thanksgiving feast is in the books and a huge carcass is in the fridge — (or better yet, the freezer). Rather than just moving it around in the freezer to cram other things in, or keeping it in the fridge until it becomes toxic waste, let’s make something easy and delicious and EVEN moderately healthy from our leftovers.
Turkey soup, or turkey stew if you prefer, is simple to make and really a perfect sort of comfort food to give you a brief break from cooking between holidays. If you have frozen your carcass (on which I am somewhat of an authority having lived in North Dakota for 18 years), that is great. If not, I MUST, in good conscience, tell you to give it a decent burial in your trash cans. I am a bit of a risk-taker, but I don’t tempt fate with poultry. You don’t want your soup to come back to haunt you!! (Would that be “Poultrygeist”??)
So drag the battered body from the freezer and place it in a large stock pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Let carcass simmer over a low heat for about 4 to 5 hours. If you have leftover wings or drumsticks, throw those in the pot as well. When the meat is falling off the bones, you pour the turkey and broth through a strainer placed over another large pot or bowl. Then pick the bones clean and put the meat back into the stock. Be careful to pick out any little splintered bones from the stock.
While the turkey is simmering, prepare your vegetables to add to the soup. Don’t add them until you have got the stock strained and the turkey added. They don’t need to cook that long and will become mushy.
I add chopped onion, celery and carrots. The amount will depend on both your taste and the amount of stock you end up with. I had a 25 pound turkey and added one whole onion, chopped, about 10 stalks of celery, and 6 to 8 carrots. I usually add a couple of cans of mushrooms as well — up to you. Add a couple of bay leaves, salt and pepper to taste, and even a small amount of sage if you like. Obviously, if you have a favorite herb, throw it in… a little dill, a little tarragon…?
If you have other favorites like mushrooms, or any vegetable for that matter, just be careful to add those that cook the fastest later in the process. For instance, if you like zucchini in your soup, put it in at the last minute as it cooks VERY quickly and has a tendency to become very mushy.
Now you have some choices. Noodle soup? Barley soup? Rice? Chopped potatoes to thicken it up? They are all good. If you want barley or rice, simply rinse it and add a cup or two to the mixture when you are adding the vegetables. The amount depends on the amount of stock and also how thick you prefer it to be.
You can chop a couple of russet potatoes and add them to the mixture and you will get a thicker, more creamy consistency from the starch. If you prefer noodles, like egg noddles, I have a little tip for you. DO NOT put the noodles into the pot with all the rest. Cook them separately, and add them to the bowls as you serve the soup. When you reheat your soup/stew with noodles, they tend to get too mushy to be good.
Keep your noodles in a baggie, and when you serve your soup again, just drop them quickly into a pot of boiling water, remove, and add to your bowls of soup. This way they become nice and hot without getting that most unappetizing slimy texture!
Serve with some nice fresh rolls, or crackers, or if you are already behaving yourself in preparation for the next fattening feast, forget the bread. You can leave all the starch out of the soup as well, and just stick to a turkey vegetable soup.
Have turkey meat left over and you are just not a “Soup Person”? Don’t think you can face another turkey sandwich? Stay tuned for “TURKEY TETTRAZINI”!!
