Saturday, November 26, 2011

the bird soup

all the work....
   which I LOVE....
that goes into the the Thanksgiving meal
and one of my favorite parts....
my own personal holiday tradition
....the day after soup!



the recipe in a nut shell
Bird Soup
1 turkey carcass or a a few of the larger bones
lots of water
    you can skip the bone boiling stage if that grosses you out and just opt for chicken broth
2 lb bag of carrots, peeled and chopped
entire bunch of celery ( washed and chopped, don't throw out those celery leaves...they have amazing flavor to add to any soup!)
1/2-1 whole chopped onion
any other veggies you want; corn, green beans, broccoli, peas (save the peas till the end), potatoes, brussel sprouts, etc....
a 'dollop' or 2 of gravy
2 scoops or 7 of mashed potatoes
bay leaf
salt and pepper
rice or noodles (optional)

yep, I'm a bone boiler...
we save the turkey carcass (could there be a grosser word?)
and I boil it for hours the next day...
just water 
and bones 
and whatever meat the vultures family didn't pick off 
all go into a pot

bring to a boil and then simmer for at least 1 hour, but 5-6 is great!  just keep adding water when it starts to get low.
then the hour before you're ready to eat, grab another large pot, and put your colander/strainer in the top, pour the boney water through catching all the wonderful broth in the bottom pot,
now return the broth to the stove and add whatever veggies you want (if you have some leftover from a veggie platter that's wonderful to use), I usually put in the 'soup trinity' (carrots, celery, & onions), then add some turkey...lots and lots of turkey (the small stuff that isn't good for sandwiches)... a few dollops of the leftover gravy helps make the soup creamy, leftover mashed potatoes are great (I like to leave the potatoes out and then heat a scoop up in the microwave and scoop the soup over the top of the spuds in the bowl...yummy!)...toss in some salt and pepper to taste and a bay leaf or 2...
if you want rice in the soup toss in a handful about 20 minutes left in the hour, if you prefer noodles toss them in the last 10 minutes....

happy bird soup!

other leftover turkey ideas
turkey salad (like chicken salad...but with turkey...so yummy with cranberry sauce)
turkey enchiladas

what do you do with your turkey leftovers?


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