Even though I didn’t host Thanksgiving this year, I did get the gift of a turkey carcass from my Mom, with which to make Turkey Soup. While the recipe I use, from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, is very simple, making Turkey Soup is a process. But it’s worth it.
First you boil the carcass with water, onions, celery, carrots and black peppercorns for three to four hours, then you let it cool in the fridge overnight. I also always add a cube of chicken bouillon to the soup while it’s hot, for extra flavor. When you get it out of the fridge the next morning, it will have a thick layer of fat on top of it, which you remove and then go through the meat in the soup to remove deadly bones.
Some of the bones of a turkey are very small and clear (I think these come from the wing), others are big and fossil-like, some are dark and small and going through the soup is like taking an anatomy class for a turkey. There’s the vertebrae, one by one, disc one, disc two, the thigh legs, wishbone, some white wormy thing, a bunch of flat, clear gelatin thingies, blobs of fat, dark squiggly things and the random peppercorns. These all need to be discarded, as well as the onion, carrot and celery. Whew!
After that, you add more sliced carrots and heat up the soup again until they are cooked. I like noodles in my soup, so cook Egg Noodles in boiling water. This is a better idea than boiling it in the broth, because then precious broth gets evaporated. If I have leftover stuffing (alas, I don’t this year), that goes into the pot as well. There is a surprising amount of turkey meat that comes off the carcass (unless it’s been picked clean), resulting in a very hearty and filling turkey soup. If it’s too thick, I thin it out a bit with more chicken broth.
I started the soup yesterday. It was a rainy, overcast day; a perfect day to make soup. As an added bonus, your house will smell wonderful while this soup simmers on the stove. I would serve this with a simple salad, a leftover Thanksgiving roll or a Turkey Sandwich, if you want double turkey! Here’s the recipe.
Turkey Soup
Course: SoupsCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Moderate4
servings30
minutesA simple Turkey Soup Recipe for after Thanksgiving.
Ingredients
1 turkey carcass
1 onion, sliced
1 carrot, sliced
2 stalks celery, cut up
6 crushed peppercorns
Salt
1 chicken boullion cube
Egg noodles
Directions
- Break the turkey carcass into pieces and put them in a large soup pot with any small pieces of turkey meat that you can spare.
- Add 8 cups of water, onion, carrot, celery and peppercorns.
- Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover partially and simmer for 3 to 4 hours.
- Remove from heat. Let cool a bit and put in the refrigerator overnight.
- Skim solidified fat off the top and go through the meat carefully, discarding bones, fat, peppercorns and any weird bits.
- Reheat with sliced carrots and noodles of your choice, until noodles are cooked al dente.
- Taste and adjust seasoning, as necessary.
Notes
- If you prefer, you can add rice or barley to the soup, instead of noodles.
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