This is my mom's turkey soup, with some tweaking by Bryant Fairley
Read all the way
through for all the ingredients – before starting!
Save the wishbone, then salvage your turkey bones, cartilage, skin, etc. Freeze if you’re not ready to make the soup
while you’re still stuffed. Don’t strip
the bones off all the meat; it’s good for the stock and the soup.
Use a stock pot – it does make a difference to have a heavy,
tall, large pot with a flat bottom (they are truly called Stock Pots). The flat bottom makes even and high heat
conduction, and the height lets the flavours concentrate while holding a large
amount. This is a great explanation http://jacquelinechurch.com/essential-kitchen-equipment-a-stock-pot/
Stock is the base liquid that gives soup great flavour. Use raw vegetables in the stock; they are
there for flavour. The stock needs to cook
for a good while: You are extracting the flavours. Leftover veggies from dinner can be pureed
and added to the soup; they make an excellent thickener for rib-sticking warm
winter soups.
STOCK
- 1 turkey carcass, broken up
- 4 carrots, chopped
- 4 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 onions, chopped
- Salt and pepper
- Stalks from broccoli, chopped
- Water, enough to cover everything to ¾ full of the stock pot
Put all the stock ingredients into the pot. Put on the stove at High and bring to a boil,
then turn down to simmer (soft but steady bubbles). Simmer for 2 hours.
SOUP
Strain the stock through a colander into a large bowl.
Separate the
vegetables and puree them (hand blender, blender, food processor, ricer...)
Remove skin and cartilage and discard.
Strip the meat off the carcass, and chop the meat into
smallish pieces.
Put the stock (liquid) back in the stock pot. Add the pureed vegetables and chopped meat.
To the stock pot add
(See! These are the ingredients I warned you about at the beginning!)
- Chicken bouillon – one or two cubes or teaspoons of powder
- Bay leaves
- Turnip, cubed
- Broccoli heads, chopped
- Rice/barley/alphabet macaroni
- Mixed vegetables (corn/peas/carrots)*
Simmer till turnip and rice/barley/macaroni are cooked. *If
using frozen vegetables, add just a few minutes before serving.
