Last weekend, for no good reason at all other than that it is delicious, we decided to have a turkey dinner. I was at the supermarket, and saw this small turkey all alone in the freezer, the only one there because it’s not really turkey season calling out… I’m cold… I’m freezing in here… Most people aren’t even going to think of turkey until maybe Easter…. So I bought it and brought it home and fired up the oven.
As delicious as the turkey dinner is, the cleanup after, and the question of what to do with the carcass comes into play. It gives me chest pains when I see people roast a turkey, cut the two breast portions off, some thigh meat and then toss it in the trash! There is so much “hidden” meat left on the turkey, and flavour in the bones that turkey soup is the ONLY way to go.
Take whatever is left of the turkey carcass, the skin, bones, hunks of meat still on the bird, and put it in a large pot. Add three chopped onions, and enough water to cover the contents and get it up to a nice rolling boil. After about 20 minutes, you can roll off the heat, and let it simmer down for a good hour or two. The boiling and simmering will remove all of that great turkey flavour into your stock.
Remove all of the turkey pieces from the pot and set aside to let them cool for a few minutes. Run your stock through a strainer to remove the finer bits. Let the stock cool down a bit and skim off some of the fat that will accumulate on the surface. If you want a faster way to do this, throw in about 4 or 5 ice cubes and the fat will instantly congeal around the cubes. They are like a “fat magnet” of sorts.
Pick through the meat and bones and you will find many pieces of good turkey meat have separated from the bone. Set all of the good parts aside, and throw out the rest. Chop up the meat and get it into your stock. Add whatever you like in your soup next. Diced potato, carrots, celery, onions, barley, the sky really is the limit on what you can put back in.
Simmer your soup until the vegetables are cooked to your liking.
If you want to “super charge” your soup, save a couple of tablespoons of gravy to throw in too. You’ll want to adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to your taste once it cools a bit and before service.
This is a very nutritious soup and a great way to use up the ENTIRE turkey after having a roast. It is great too because unlike canned soups that have a MASSIVE amount of sodium in them, you control the salt that goes into it.
Enjoy!
