OK, you have eaten Thanksgiving dinner. You are so full that buttons are threatening to fire across the room. All you want to do is sit and visit with your family. Hold on. There is one more thing to do. You just don’t want to let that turkey carcass and bones to go to waist. If you cover it with water and let it boil for a couple of hours, you can have the best Turkey soup!
You can put the carcass in the fridge and make the soup the next day but my experience is the sooner you boil it off the better the soup. So, while the table is being cleared, I break the carcass up, and put it and any carved bones, wing tips, etc in a Dutch oven and cover them with water. I simmer them for 2 hours, let it cool and put it in the fridge. I don’t bother making stock with onions and seasonings, I just boil the carcass.
The next day, you have to heat the stock up as it will have gelled. Take the large bones out and strain the stock.
We only had a small bird and I got 1.5 litres (6 cups)Â of stock from boiling the carcass. If you don’t have a carcass and want to make this soup anyway, just use the same amount of chicken stock.
Then I took some bacon trimmings from when I made bacon in a prior post. I chopped them up into a rough chop. If you don’t make your own bacon (get with it), you can chop up store bought bacon.
I cut all my vegetables and the bacon for the soup. I sauteed the bacon over medium high heat in a large Dutch oven. I cooked it just until the fat started to come out. I added the onion and celery and sauteed for three to four minutes. I added the garlic and sauteed until a nice brown colour forms on the bottom of the pot, about 2 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, soy sauce, sherry and Italian seasoning mix. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour.
Add the turkey, beans and carrots. Bring back to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add the soup noodles, return to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
Taste and add salt if required (with the soy sauce and seasonings, I rarely need to add salt).
Serve!
The Verdict
This is real comfort food. Rich and tasty. Sigh I love soup and feel so sorry for those people who throw the turkey carcass out.
The Old Fat Guy
Ingredients
- 1 turkey carcass
- 1.5 litres (6 cups) water
- 125 ml (1/2 cup) bacon, chopped
- 250 ml (1 cup) onion, chopped
- 175 ml (3/4 cup) celery, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, chopped fine
- 500 ml (2 cups) chopped fresh tomatoes or diced canned tomatoes.
- 25 ml (2 tablespoons) Italian seasoning mix
- 50 ml (1/4 cup) soy sauce
- 50 ml (1/4 cup) sherry (I use cooking sherry)
- 500 ml (2 cups) chopped turkey meat
- 125 ml (1/2 cup) carrots, diced
- 375 ml (1 1/2 cups) green beans, chopped
- 125 ml (1/2 cup) soup noodles or spaghetti broken to `1 inch pieces
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Put the carcass, skin, trimmings and bones from your turkey dinner in a pot and cover with 6 cups water.
- Bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours.
- Remove bones and strain the stock. If needed, add water to bring it to 6 cups of liquid.
- Saute the bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat until it starts to rend fat.
- Add the onion and celery. Saute for 2 or 3 minutes.
- Add the garlic and saute until there is a nice brown coating on the bottom of the pot.
- Add the tomatoes, Italian seasoning, turkey stock, soy sauce and sherry.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.
- Add the carrots, beans and turkey meat. Simmer for 20 minutes.
- Add the noodles and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Taste and add salt if needed.
- Serve
