Turkey Soup

Be sure not to throw away the carcass after preparing a turkey meal! Try this recipe once and it will be difficult for you to throw it out again without making this wonderful homemade soup.

There are two parts to making turkey soup from the leftover carcass and bones. The first part is that you will have to make the turkey stock first. After the stock has cooked, you will add this flavorful broth to make the soup.

Ingredients:

For stock (broth):
leftover turkey carcass and bones (break down carcass to fit into stock pot)
10 - 12 cups of water (approximately)
3 carrots, unpeeled, cut into large chunks
2 celery stalks, cut into large chunks (include celery leaves)
1 large onion, unpeeled, quartered
20 whole black peppercorns
salt and freshly ground pepper
bouquet garni (2 bay leaves, 1 tsp dried parsley, 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1/4 tsp dried thyme) *
For soup:
8 to 10 cups turkey stock
3 to 4 cups of left over turkey meat, cubed
3 carrots, peeled and diced small
2 celery stalks, diced small
1 large onion, diced small
2 tbs butter or olive oil
1 to 2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper, freshly ground

2 cups of egg noodles, uncooked

Directions:

For the Stock (Broth):

Remove the meat from the carcass and bones. (Don't worry about picking off every single piece of meat off the bones, I like to keep a little on to help flavor the broth.)
Place the carcass and bones in a Dutch oven or large stock pot. Add plenty of water to cover the turkey carcass completely by an inch or so.
Bring water just to a boil on medium-high heat. As soon as it comes to a boil, turn down heat to low. Skim off any foam that rises to the top.
Add the remaining broth ingredients: vegetables, black peppercorns, bouquet garni, salt and a few rounds of freshly ground pepper. Cover partially and simmer gently for 4 to 5 hours.
Remove large pieces of the carcass and bones with tongs. All meat would have fallen off at this point, so discard all bones at this time.
Strain the broth using a mesh strainer. Pick through removing any edible meat to use in the soup. Discard the rest of the solids including bouquet garni.

For the Soup:

Wipe clean the Dutch oven or large pot that you used to make the broth above.
Heat butter or olive oil in the pot on medium high heat.
Add diced carrots, celery, and onion and cook stirring often for about 5 to 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
Add strained turkey stock, cubed turkey, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Check your seasonings at this point, you may require additional salt and pepper. This depends on how much water was used initially for making the broth. Gradually add in additional seasonings if required, tasting after each addition.
Simmer for about 30 minutes. Use a bread slice or two to skim the fat that has raised to the top of the broth.
Add egg noodles to the pot just before serving. Simmer until noodles are cooked and serve. If you add the noodles too early before serving, they will get soggy and limp.

Comments:

* Bouquet Garni - I used to be intimidated by this term. However, it is just simply herbs bundled together. If using fresh herbs you simply bundle and tie the herbs together with a piece of string. If using dried herbs, cut a 3" to 4" square piece of cheese cloth, place dried herbs in the middle, bring the 4 corners together and tie closed with kitchen string.

- You can prepare the diced vegetables for the soup while the broth is simmering. When peeling the carrots and onion for the soup, add the peeled skins and any celery leaves while the broth (stock) is simmering.

- We really like the Ronzoni brand Healthy Harvest Whole Grain extra wide noodles in this soup.

Tips:

- None

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