Ideas for turkey soup...?!
I've read that you should boil water with the carcass, then strain, and pick off any meat that's left. But my question is, does anyone know of a soup recipe where you cook the veggies/meat, then take everything out so you just have a flavorful broth with noodles?
My grandmother made this every year for my entire childhood...but she refused to give the 'correct' recipe to anyone, and now she can't remember (she's in a nursing home). all i know is that she took a whole onion and stuck cloves in it, and added that to the broth while she was boiling the carcass....and whole canned tomatoes too..and strained everything afterwards...any tips for this type of soup? I think i might add whole carrots and celery as well....
Answers: My dad gave me a turkey carcass that's pretty picked clean, but he asked me to make turkey soup with it. There are a TON of nice dark drippings on the bottom of the pan, as well as a huge bowl of homemade turkey gravy.
I've read that you should boil water with the carcass, then strain, and pick off any meat that's left. But my question is, does anyone know of a soup recipe where you cook the veggies/meat, then take everything out so you just have a flavorful broth with noodles?
My grandmother made this every year for my entire childhood...but she refused to give the 'correct' recipe to anyone, and now she can't remember (she's in a nursing home). all i know is that she took a whole onion and stuck cloves in it, and added that to the broth while she was boiling the carcass....and whole canned tomatoes too..and strained everything afterwards...any tips for this type of soup? I think i might add whole carrots and celery as well....
Mom's Turkey Soup Recipe
Every Thanksgiving my mother takes what's left of the turkey carcass and makes a delicious turkey soup that we enjoy for days.
The first step is to make the stock, which you can get started on right after dinner.
Making Stock
1 Remove all the usable turkey meat from the turkey carcass to save for making sandwiches later or for adding to the soup.
2 Break up the leftover bones of the carcass a bit, so they don't take up as much room in the pot. Put the leftover bones and skin into a large stock pot and cover with water by an inch. Add any drippings that weren't used to make gravy, and any giblets (except liver) that haven't been used already.
3 Bring to a boil and immediately reduce heat to bring the stock to a bare simmer or just below a simmer. ( If you would like to have a clear stock, keep the stock below a simmer, as the more you simmer, the more cloudy the stock will be.) Skim off any foamy crud that may float to the surface of the stock.
4 Add 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.
5 Cook for at least 4 hours, uncovered or partially uncovered (so the stock reduces), occassionally skimming off any foam that comes to the surface. To help maintain a steady, even heat, you can cook the stock in a 180°F oven.
6 In the last hour of cooking add a yellow onion that has been quartered, some chopped carrots, parsley, thyme, a bay leaf, celery tops, and some peppercorns.
7 Remove the bones and strain the stock, ideally through a very fine mesh strainer.
8 If making stock for future use in soup you may want to reduce the stock by cooking it longer, uncovered, at a bare simmer or just below a simmer, to make it more concentrated and easier to store.
Making the Turkey Soup
Prepare the turkey soup much as you would 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 and/or a bouillion cube. Cook at a bare simmer until the vegetables are cooked through. (Or you can sauté the vegetables in a little fat rendered from the soup first, and add back to the soup right before serving.) You can add rice, noodles, or even leftover mashed potatoes (or not if you want the low carb version). Take some of the remaining turkey meat you reserved earlier, shred it into bite sized pieces and add to the soup. You may also want to add some chopped tomatoes, either fresh or canned. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sometimes a dash or two of Tabasco gives the soup a nice little kick.
i have gone here many a time to get recipes after the turkey dinner and all have been good
http://www.eatturkey.com/foodsrv/recipes...
Your idea to boil it (w/ veggies, peppercorns, onions, celery, carrots, etc) is great. Start there. And yes, use all those good, dark drippings!
You don't really need a recipe. Just add a bag of frozen mixed veggies, a can of diced tomatoes w/ juice, egg noodles or other pasta, maybe diced potatoes (cna use frozen again), and some turkey meat if you don't have enough from the carcass to make the soup meaty. If you don't like what's in mixed veggies, add the smallest bags of individual veggies: corn, carrots, green beans, peas, lima beans; even drained/rnsed cans of red or white beans; dry lentils, barley, what have you.
Sounds like you already have your answer yourself. Trust your instincts and with a little experimentation you'll have your grandmothers recipe.