With Thanksgiving just a few days away, we thought it was a good time to remind you to keep your turkey bones and leftover vegetables so you can make delicious, comforting soup. You’ll stretch your Thanksgiving turkey quite a few more meals and it’s delicious, nutritious and almost free! Have left over mashed potatoes? Throw them in at the end for a creamy soup! Happy Thanksgiving!

INGREDIENTS:

Turkey Stock (instructions below)
Vegetables (use whatever is on hand but I recommend carrots, celery, and yellow or white onions)
Seasoning (use whatever is on hand but I recommend salt, pepper, parsley, and either sage, rosemary, marjoram, and thyme or poultry seasoning)
Chicken Bouillon
Water
Cooked noodles or rice (optional)

Turkey Soup

You can make a little, or a lot. Adjust the quantities to the amount of soup you are making. These quantities are for approximately 10 servings.

1. Pour Turkey Stock (recipe below) into a soup pot (8-10 cups).
2. Add vegetables (3-4 carrots, 1-2 celery stalks, and 1 yellow or white onion). Depending on your preference, you could add whole vegetables or chop them (I prefer chopped).
3. Add seasoning (2 tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper, 2 tsp dried parsley, and either ¼ tsp each of sage, rosemary, marjoram, and thyme or 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning).
4. Add chicken bouillon (2-3 cubes).
5. Add water to cover, if required.
6. Bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat to simmer and if you have leftover boneless turkey meat, add some now (either shredded or chopped).
   
8. Let simmer for one hour.
9. Adjust seasoning to taste. Serve hot.

It is great served as is, or ladle soup over cooked noodles or rice in a bowl.

Turkey Stock

The stock can be made immediately after dinner. Stock can then be used immediately, refrigerated or frozen.

1. Remove meat from bones and put aside (for sandwiches and to add to soup later).
2. Break bones into manageable pieces. Place bones and carcass (all parts of turkey not eaten including skin, neck, wings, etc.) into a stock pot (a very large pot). Add cold water to cover (approximately 8-10 cups). (Don’t worry if a little of the stuffing goes in.)
   
3. Place on high heat and bring to a boil. Immediately after it begins to boil, I remove the bones, carcass, etc. and pour the water out. I wash the pot and dry it, then rinse the carcass, bones, etc. in cold water and return them to the pot. Add fresh cold water (to cover) and continue. This step can be skipped, but you must then skim foam from the top of the stock as it cooks.
4. Wash vegetables and add to stock (use peels, tops, and tips for stock). Use whatever vegetables are on hand but a good combination is:
   2-3 carrots
   1-2 celery stalks
   1 yellow or white onion (do not include onion skins in stock)
5. Add seasoning. Again, use whatever you have, but good choices include:
   2 tsp salt
   ½ tsp ground black pepper (or 3-4 peppercorns)
   1 tsp dried parsley (fresh leaves are best, but dried parsley can be used)
   2-3 bay leaves
   1 tsp ground basil
   ¼ tsp of each: sage, rosemary, marjoram, thyme (or 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning)
6. Pour all of the turkey drippings in.
   
7. Heat to boiling, then turn down heat to a low simmer. Let simmer for 2-3 hours (skim any foam off the top every ½ hour or so).
8. Remove from heat.
9. You can now remove the bones, carcass, etc. and dispose of them (all their goodness was moved into the stock now).
10. Pour through a large mesh strainer (or colander lined with 3-4 layers of cheese cloth, linen towel or 3-4 layers paper towels). Dispose of the solids and keep the stock. The stock can now be refrigerated, frozen or used immediately for soup, sauce or gravy.