Turkey soup, revisited
Speaking of the Soup Lady, my own soup endeavors turned out all for the good last night. From one smallish (12 lb) turkey, a few onions, some celery, carrots and whatnot, I ended up with two gallons of mighty fine soup that needed no additional salt whatsoever.
Soup like this requires a bit of pre-planning. Roast the turkey. While that’s happening, simmer the neck and parts (not the liver and heart of course — you roast that and reserve for the felines). When the turkey’s done, deglaze the pan and keep the simmered broth and pan additions until you’re ready for the next step.
Remove the meat from the bones, removing the legs, thighs and wings at the joints. I cut most of the meat in big pieces, setting aside the leg, thigh and wing meat and smaller pieces for the soup itself. It’s possible to break a turkey carcass in half just rear of the rib cage. That usually helps it fit better in even large pots. Place the carcass along with leg, thigh and wing bones and the wing tips in a really large pot. Put in
- 2-3 whole onions
- 5 whole celery stalks
- 4-5 carrots cut in half if you like.
I use a “mulled cider” teaball like thing to make a sort of bouquet garni — the ball is about 4″ across and holds
- 5 or so whole garlic cloves (skin and all)
- 2-3 bay leaves
- a tsp of whole peppercorns
- a handful of parsley
Bring to a boil and simmer until all the veggies are limp and the bones are well-cooked with the meat coming off. Probably 2 hours or so. Skim off any foamy stuff and you can corral as much fat as you like at the same time.
Strain the stock into a clean container and discard the bones and veggies. This is a good stopping point if you’re doing this over a couple days. If you refrigerate the stock at this point (which should be golden brown and yummy all on its own) you can remove more fat if you like. Starting again, add
- 2-3 onions diced
- 5-6 carrots diced
- 4-6 stalks celery diced
- refill the teaball thing with fresh garlic, bay, peppercorns and parsely
Remember that now you’re really making the soup. Before you were making stock. While the veggies are simmering in the stock (you can choose to saute them before adding to the stock but I don’t do that) cut up the meat you’re going to add. Make some rice to add later. when the veggies are cooked but firm, add the meat and simmer for awhile longer.
Warning: you can end up with a lot of soup so have a thought to what you’ll store it in, how you can freeze it, whose life you can improve by gifting with a quart of good soup.
More important warning:
- One of the worst things you can do while making stock is boil it. It must take something from the bones after awhile. The soup will be cloudy at worst and have a different flavor. Better to bring to a boil and then simmer. Ditto with the soup itself. No need to boil it. Keep it well heated but not boiling.
- Add the meat towards the very end. It’s already cooked and cooking too much long will dry it out.
- Don’t store the rice or pasta in the soup. Add it before serving and heat through or if it’s hot, put it in the serving bowl and add the soup to the bowl.
Enjoy!
