TURKEY NOODLE SOUP: DELICIOUS WAY TO USE UP LEFTOVER TURKEY

 

How do you feel about leftovers? 

Hate 'em?

Love 'em?
Neutral as Switzerland?

I'm a LeftOVER LOVER.

To me, many things taste much better the next day.

I can eat the same thing for three or four days in a row.

Mr. Goo Shoes is a pretty good sport about that, too.

Junior Goo Shoes hates leftovers.

I guess leftover-loving tendencies are not genetic.

And honestly, whenever I get to heat up leftovers instead of preparing a meal?
That's going to end up on my daily gratitude list.

My favorite leftovers of all are Thanksgiving foods.....

The stuffing, the sweet potato casserole, the cranberry sauce.....Yum!

One leftover I do not like is re-heated turkey.
Feh.

I find it has a funny taste.
Have you ever noticed that? 

On the other hand, I have no problem going "cold turkey."

No funky taste there.

I love cold turkey on sandwiches with Russian dressing,

in turkey salad, or even with warm gravy.

Even though I try to pick the carcass clean to maximize turkey-leftover efficiency,

there's always a fair amount of meat left on the bones.
PROBLEM SOLVED with a recipe for turkey soup, 
given to me by a friend many years ago. 
Making it became an annual tradition.
When I misplaced that recipe, I found a very similar one on cooks.com.

This turkey soup is easy, but, I will tell you that it takes time to make.

WAIT -- don't click away yet! 
Hear me out.
Y'all know me by now -- I'm too kitchen-lazy to make anything that's complicated.

Do not let the long list of ingredients scare you into reaching for a can of noodle soup.
Half of the ingredients are spices,
and, the recipe doesn't require a lot of active time.
Mostly, it's just simmering away,
which means that you can lose yourself in an episode of This Is Us, 
while your soup takes care of itself.    
You. CAN. Do. This.



I like to split the preparation between two days.

On day one, I make the broth, and refrigerate it.

 While the broth is cooking, I chop all the veggies.

 On day two, I skim off the congealed fat, and strain the broth, 
before adding the other ingredients.  
Then, the stove does the rest of the heavy lifting, 
by simmering away for about an hour, while I sit on the couch, reading a magazine. 
Any cooking that doesn't require my undivided attention gets a 👍 from me.

If you're a regular reader, you may remember me mentioning  
that Mr. Goo Shoes is not a foodie.
So, when he gives something a rave review, it says a lot.
His words: "This is the best soup I've ever had."

Mic drop.  

TURKEY NOODLE SOUP

(Recipe adapted from cooks.com)

1 turkey carcass

4 quarts water

4 large carrots, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 large onion, chopped

1 1/2 cup cabbage, shredded

1 14.5 oz. canned tomatoes, chopped

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. dried parsley flakes

1 tsp. dried whole basil

1 bay leaf

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. paprika

14 tsp. poultry seasoning

Pinch of dried whole thyme

6 oz. uncooked medium noodles (approximately 1/2 bag) 

Place turkey and water into a large dutch oven; bring to a boil. 

Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 2 hours.

Remove carcass from broth, and pick all meat from the bones. Set aside.

Strain broth through cheesecloth or paper towel to remove all bits.

(At this point, you can refrigerate the broth overnight, and pick up the rest the next day 
after skimming off fat from top; or continue on).

Return meat to broth, and add remaining ingredients, except for noodles.

Simmer one hour or until vegetables are tender.  Add noodles in last 20 minutes.  
Remove bay leaf.

Yield: 5 quarts

Made from a leftover carcass, 
turkey noodle soup is one bad-ass soup.

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