Turkey Carcass Soup

I like cooking for Thanksgiving. I love to eat homemade cranberry sauce and warm rolls with butter. I could probably eat a whole plate of Lynn's twice-baked potatoes. But I'm not a big fan of turkey, and I really don't get excited about leftover turkey (I'll mention that Thanksgiving leftovers don't go to waste at our house, though, since Rich more than makes up for my lack of zeal in these areas).

Though I'd roasted a few turkeys before, I'd never saved the bones for soup. After roasting beef bones and making Phở this spring, I've felt prepared to make my own stock. So this Thanksgiving, we saved all the miscellaneous bony parts and a few days later I made this soup. It turned out great and has caused me to look a lot more favorably on the Thanksgiving leftovers situation.

This recipe is adapted from Cook's Illustrated's Turkey Noodle Soup. It makes about 3 quarts, enough for 8 to 10 servings.

Turkey Carcass Soup
1. • 1 turkey carcass (they called for a 12-14 pound turkey, but we had a 20-pounder), cut into 4 or 5 rough pieces to fit into pot
   • 1 large onion, peeled and halved
   • 1 large carrot, peeled and chopped coarse
   • 1 large rib celery, about 4 ounces, chopped coarse (we didn't have it, so I left it out)
   • 3 medium cloves garlic, unpeeled and smashed
   • 2 cups dry white wine
   • 1 bay leaf
   • 5 sprigs fresh parsley leaves (we didn't have it, so I left it out)
   • 3 sprigs fresh thyme
   • 2-3 cups medium-sized pasta (we used spaghetti broken into thirds and it though it was kind of messy to eat, it reminded me of the canned chicken noodle soup I ate growing up and the comfort was well worth the mess)
2. 1. Bring turkey carcass, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, wine, bay leaf, and 4 1/2 quarts water to boil in 12-quart stockpot over medium-high heat, skimming fat or foam that rises to surface. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, 2 hours, continuing to skim surface as necessary. Add parsley and thyme; continue to simmer until stock is rich and flavorful, about 2 hours longer, continuing to skim surface as necessary.
   2. Strain stock through large-mesh strainer into large bowl or container; remove meat from strained solids, shred into bite-sized pieces, and set aside; coarsely chop vegetables and discard remaining solids.
   3. Add pasta and reserved shredded turkey meat from stock; simmer until pasta is al dente, 10 to 12 minutes. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper; serve.

Thanksgiving #2

This time, we used the same turkey recipe, but our turkey weighed 17 pounds rather than 12 and this time we got an organic broad-breasted white rather than a heritage turkey. We rinsed it off better after brining so the turkey and gravy weren't unbearably salty (as they were last time) - in fact, we didn't taste any extra saltiness. And adding 15 minutes for each pound over 15 (we added 15 minutes at 400° and 15 minutes at 350°) and flipping the turkey over about halfway through the 225° part. The juices at the bottom of the pan looked a little pink, but I think that was just juices running along the browned bottom of the turkey after flipping it over.
Dried Cherry and Italian Sausage Stuffing from Real Simple
Green Bean Casserole
Creamed Corn
Twice Baked Potatoes courtesy of Lynn
Roasted Stuffed Tomatoes
Cranberry and Dried Cherry Sauce
Sweet Potatoes with brown sugar and butter courtesy of Rich's mom
Berry and Banana Terrine
Apple Pie with a Ginger Graham Cracker Crust - I was using a smaller pie pan than the recipe calls for, so I left out 2 of the apples (using only 6) and sprinkled the remaining "crust" on top of the pie.

Thanksgivings

It's been two Thanksgivings since our last post - which should help explain why it's been so long. We hosted Thanksgiving this year, but since our families weren't both available on the same day, we decided to host two feasts - one on the 11th and one on Thanksgiving Day. We tried to make everything from scratch and use interesting recipes - so I thought I'd list them here, in case anyone want a tried-and-tasty recipe.

Thanksgiving #1 (for 8)

Turkey and Gravy - we used a Free Range, Grain-Fed American Bronze turkey, which we picked up at a farm just east of Madison. The American Bronze breed of turkey is what they call a "heritage" breed - meaning that they are traditional American turkeys that were almost extinct a few years ago, but are gaining popularity as people are preferring more flavorful natural birds over those that have been bred to have more breast meat and fed to become plump at a young age. They are also much leaner and are supposed to cook more quickly. We followed the recipe linked above, taking 30 minutes off the cooking time to account for our smaller bird. Though the thermometer indicated doneness, the turkey definitely not done, so we had to throw it back in the oven.

Trader Joe's Apple, Sausage & Chestnut Stuffing
1. • 1 medium Granny Smith apple, cored and diced into 1 inch cubes
   • 1 medium Gala apple, cored and diced into 1 inch cubes
   • 2 shallots, diced (we forgot to put these on the grocery list and used about 1.5 tablespoons diced onion instead)
   • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
   • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed
   • 1/2 cup dry white wine (we ended up using Sherry cooking wine)
   • 6 ounces dried cranberries
   • 1/2 tablespoon sea salt & 1 teaspoon black pepper
   • 1 1/2 pounds Cantella's Cooked Smoked Turkey and Cranberry Sausage (we used Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage)
   • 7.6 ounce Trader Joe's Whole Natural Chestnuts, roughly chopped (orange box, about 4" tall and 3" wide, we found it stacked near produce)
   • 3/4 pound day old Trader Joe's cornbread, kernels removed, cooked according to package directions (we forgot to remove the kernels and weighed it at roughly half a 8"x8" pan)
   • pinch, red pepper flakes (we left them out)
   • 1 1/2 cups Kitchen Basics Chicken Stock (or any other stock)
2. 1. Preheat oven to 400° (or whatever the turkey is cooking at - since everything in this recipe is already cooked).
   2. In a medium sauté pan add the apples, shallots, 1 tbsp oil and 3 tbsp butter and cook over a medium low heat for 10 minutes to soften apples. Add the wine, cranberries, salt and pepper; simmer for about 5 minutes more. Remove pan from heat and allow mixture to cool.
   3. Remove casing from sausage (ours didn't have casing). In a large sauté pan over medium high heat, add 1 tbsp olive oil and sausage. Break up sausage with a wooden spoon and heat through for approximately 5 minutes.
   4. In a medium bowl toss together the fruit and onion mixture, sausage, chestnuts, cornbread, and red pepper flakes. Gently mix well. Add the chicken stock. Place mixture into a glass baking dish and dot top with butter, as desired. Place dish in oven on middle rack and bake until top is golden brown, about 30 to 45 minutes.
   5. Serve with roast turkey and giblet gravy or pork chops. Serves 6.

Cranberry Sauce

Rosé Gelatin with Blackberries adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe in Martha Stewart's Healthy Quick Cook

3 Tbsp unflavored gelatin (about 3 envelopes)
4 cups plus 2 tablespoons rosé wine
1 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons sugar
4 cups blackberries
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Pour 2 cups of cold water into a large bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over the top and let stand 5 minutes to soften.

Bring 4 cups of wine, 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of blackberries to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Strain out berries and pour the liquid into the gelatin. Discard or eat the cooked berries. Add the lemon juice to the gelatin mixture and stir until the gelatin dissolves.
Place the remaining blackberries into 8 3/4-cup ramekins or one large bowl. Pour the mixture over them and chill, covering until set, at least 5 hours.

Mashed Potatoes don't require much of a recipe, but here's one.

Arugula and Pear Salad with Maple Vinaigrette from Real Simple

Turkey-Tail Rolls from Martha Stewart

And of course, Pumpkin Pie with Ginger Graham Cracker Crust

And that was Thanksgiving #1! Recipes from #2 are coming soon.