Mom's Turkey Soup Recipe

Every Thanksgiving my mother takes what's left of the turkey carcass and makes a delicious turkey soup recipe that we enjoy for days.

The first step is to make the stock, which you can get started on right after dinner.

Method

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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 cold 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. Add a yellow onion that has been quartered, some chopped carrots, parsley, thyme, a bay leaf, celery tops, and some peppercorns.
    
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, do not bring the stock to a boil, but 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 180-200°F oven.
    
6. Remove the bones and veggies and strain the stock, ideally through a very fine mesh strainer.
    
7. 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

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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.

*If cooking gluten-free use gluten-free noodles.

Mom's Turkey Stuffing Recipe

This Mom's Turkey Stuffing Recipe from my grandmother, my mother used to make our Thanksgiving turkey stuffing recipe for over 40 years. I have never tasted the farce that Turkey recipe has moved closer as well as mom. Although years ago we used to stuff the bird, these days we cook the stuffing recipe separately. It is much easier to obtain even cooking of Turkey (and safe too) if you do not have the stuff. To infuse the stuffing with the turkey flavor, simmer giblets us for an hour, and use this stock in the stuffing.


Ingredients

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• 1 loaf day old French bread, cut into 3/4-inch cubes (about 10-12 cups)
• 1 cup walnuts
• 2 cups each chopped onion and celery
• 6 c. unsalted butter
• 1 green apple, peeled, seeded, chopped
• 3 / 4 cup currants or raisins
• Several (5 to 10) chopped green olives (martini olives, those with chilli)
• Stock of the turkey giblets (1 cup to 2 cups) (can substitute chicken broth)
• 1 / 4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning or ground sage (to taste)
• Salt and pepper (to taste)

Method

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1. If you have not already made the stock, take the turkey giblets - heart and gizzard - and neck if you want, and put them in a small saucepan, cover with water and add a little salt. Bring to a simmer and simmer for about an hour, uncovered. Strain the broth into a container for use with the stuffing. Alternatively, you can use chicken broth or just plain water with this recipe.
2. Toast the walnuts by heating them in a skillet over medium-high heat for several minutes, stirring until lightly browned (not burned) or put them in the microwave high until the 'you can smell them toasting, about a minute or two. Let them cool while you toast the bread, then chop coarsely.
3. Heat a large skillet, sauté over medium heat. Melt 3 tbsp tablespoons butter in skillet, add bread cubes and toss to coat the pieces of bread with melted butter. Then let them toast, not turn when they have become a little browned on one side. Note that if you do not work with a little dried-out day-bread, put the bread cubes in a bowl and put in a hot oven for 10 minutes to dry them first, before grilling in butter on Stove Top. The bread should be a little dry at first, or you'll end up with mushy stuffing.
4. In a large Dutch oven, sauté chopped onions and celery over medium-high heat with remaining 3 tbsp tablespoons of butter until done, about 5-10 minutes. Add bread. Add cooked chopped nuts. Add chopped green apple, currants, grapes, olives, parsley. Add a cup of the strain of cooking turkey giblets or chicken stock (enough to maintain moisture of the stuffing while you are cooking). Add sage, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper.
5. Cover. Reduce heat to low. Cook for one hour or until apples are cooked. Check every ten minutes and add water or broth if necessary during cooking to keep moisture from the stuffing and keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Serves 8-10.