I love to make this soup or at least the soup stock every
time I roast a turkey. Roasting the
turkey bones along with aromatic vegetables adds incredible depth of flavor and
color to this deep rich soup. Once you
make this soup stock by roasting the bones and vegetables before simmering, I promise
you, you will never go back to just simmering the turkey bones. The flavor is
incomparable. This stock freezes well if
you want to enjoy turkey soup at a later date.
Turkey Stock
Ingredients:
Carcass from a 12-18 pound cooked turkey, broken into
smaller pieces
2 medium yellow onions, cut into 8 pieces
3 large carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
4 stalks of celery, cut
into 1 inch pieces
4 large cloves of garlic
hot water
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 sprig of thyme
Directions:
Preheat oven to 475°F.
Spray a large roasting pan with cooking spray.
Place the turkey, onions, carrots, celery and garlic in
roasting pan.
Place in oven and roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until
bones are brown.
Transfer to a large soup pot.
Add enough hot water to the pot to cover the bones and
vegetables by about 2 inches (about 4-5 quarts of water).
Add the peppercorns, bay leaves and thyme.
Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and
simmer very gently for 6-8 hours.
Set a large colander over a large pan in the sink.
With a pair of tongs remove the larger pieces of turkey bone
and discard.
Carefully pour the rest of the stock into the colander. Lift colander to strain.
Rinse colander.
Set the colander into a large pot or bowl. Place a fine sieve in the colander and strain
the stock one more time.
Let the broth cool about 1 hour.
Skim fat from broth and discard, or chill until broth is
cold, then skim fat.
Use the broth immediately, keep refrigerated in an airtight
container up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 6 months.
Makes 4 to 4 ½ quarts of stock.
Note: I like to rinse
the roaster I cooked my turkey in with hot water, scraping up any browned bits
and add this to my stock before I cook it as well. This adds a lot of additional flavor.
To Make the Turkey Soup
1 tablespoon reserved fat from turkey drippings or olive oil
Equal amounts of chopped onion, carrots, and celery.
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
turkey stock (from above)
turkey meat leftover from turkey
salt and pepper to taste
egg noodles, prepared according to package directions
Instructions:
In a large pot set over medium-high heat, melt reserved fat
from turkey drippings or oil.
Add onions, carrots, celery, and parsley to the pot and
sauté until vegetables are just softened, about 5 minutes.
Stir in turkey stock, and cover and simmer until vegetables
are tender, about 10 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper if desired.
Stir in reserved turkey meat, and simmer 5 minutes to warm.
Serve soup spooned over prepared egg noodles.
Note: I never add the
egg noodles directly into the soup as they tend to get soggy.
