Turkey Soup

I have been making this soup every Black Friday for over 20 years, and I have never used a recipe.  One thing for sure, it is consistently good, and no matter how much I make, there is never enough to fill all of the requests from family and friends for this soup. Although I don't have a recipe, I will do my best to tell you how I made it on Black Friday 2014.

Turkey Soup

1. Put the carcass, left over skin, wing parts and anything left from the turkey that you were thinking of throwing away into the strainer of a large pasta steamer/stock pot and cover about 3/4 with water (too much and it will boil over).  Bring to a slow boil.  
2. For the next couple of hours, use a wooden spoon and tongs to pick out the large bones as they become clean of the meat.  As time goes by, pick out the skin as it cooks down and any large pieces of solid fat or grisel that you probably wouldn't want in your soup.
3. You may want to add water through the day to keep the pot about 3/4 full.
4. After about 2 1/2 to 3 hours, take stock pot off of the burner, pull out the strainer full of meet, let it drain into the stock pot and set the strainer full of turkey into a large pot and let it cool.
5. Cover the stock pot and put it n the fridge (or outside in the cold) to cool.
6. Once the strainer full of turkey cools, pick through it by hand, reserve the meat and throw out the bones, skin and grisly fat.



12 Qt Pasta Steamer/Stock Pot

7. Once the stock pot of turkey broth is cool, remove any fat that has solidified on the top.  Pot the broth back on medium-high heat.
8. Add the reserved turkey meat, onion, celery, carrots and rice to the soup, bring to a boil, reduce to a medium heat.
9. ---Enjoy

The ingredients are fairly consistent every year, but it is usually what I have left after making Thanksgiving Dinner.  This is what I had laying around this year.

Ingredients 1/2 med onion 4 celery stalks, coarsely diced 4 carrots, sliced 1cup instant brown rice salt & pepper to taste

Chicken Chowder with Fire Roasted Corn

Leftover Alert
Next week is Thanksgiving and my recipes for the next two weeks will require some leftovers.  Next Saturday I will be making Turkey soup which will require the carcass from your Thanksgiving turkey.  The following week will by my Slow Cooker Turkey Stew recipe and you will need about a pound of a mix of leftover turkey, both white meat and dark meat.  I'm sure that you will enjoy both of these recipes.

Now, as for this week,

---Enjoy

Chicken Chowder with Fire Roasted Corn

1. Heat the extra virgin olive oil over med-high heat in a soup pot.
2. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and green pepper, reduce to med-low and sweat the vegetables partially covered until tender (about 15 minutes).
3. Increase heat to med-high.  Add 1/4 cup of the mashed Navy Beans stirring to combine mixture.
4. Gradually mix in the boiling water, about 1/4 at a time, stirring until smooth. 
5. Using an immersion blender, pulsate to partially blend the mixture.  No need to make it completely smooth.  (If you do not have an immersion blender, transfer to a standard blender.)
6. Stir in the diced tomatoes.  Reduce heat to med-low and add the apple, parsley, Mrs Dash Salt-Free Chicken Grilling Blend, Thyme and Cumin.  Simmer for 30 minutes.
7. Add the Almond Milk, chicken and remaining Navy Beans and cook until heated through stirring occasionally.  About 10 to 15 minutes.
8. Salt and pepper to taste

*Mrs Dash Salt-Free Chicken Grilling Blend  This blend contains the following ingrediants: Garlic, Onion, Spices (Black Pepper, Sweet Chili Pepper, Oragano, Rosemary, Basil, Sage, Thyme, Cayenne Pepper, Bay, Marjoram, Savory, Corriander, Cumin, Mustard), Carrots, Paprika, Orange Peel, Lemon Juice Solids, Citric Acid and Natural Lemon Flavor.

Ingredients 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (no butter here) 1/3 cup finely chopped yellow onion (1 small onion) 1/2 cup finely chopped carrot (1 med carrot) 1/3 cup finely chopped celery (1 stalk) 1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper (1/2 small pepper) 1 can Navy Beans, drained and mashed with a fork (Really, a flour substitute???) 28 oz can diced tomatoes 1 apple, chopped (I like to leave the apple unpeeled) 3 cups Almond Milk (Yes, Almond Milk) 1 cup diced cooked chicken 1 cup boiling water 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (1 tablespoon parsley flakes) 1/2 tablespoon Mrs Dash Salt-Free Chicken Grilling Blend* 1 teaspoon Thyme 1/2 teaspoon Cumin Salt and Pepper to taste

15 Bean Soup

15 Bean Soup

This is another soup that goes back to my early years of making soup.  The first time that I make a new dish, I always follow the recipe exactly, and that was the case with this 15 Bean Soup.  It was good, but I was not particularly fond of the seasoning packet.  It tasted extremely salty.   The soup was also a little too watery for my taste.  So, I knew the flavor packet had to go, and a prepared broth had to replace the water.  In October of 2015, I made some subtle changes to this recipe.  I now use both water and broth, and I added a half of a teaspoon of smoked paprika.  This soup is very low in fat and high in fiber, and it warms your innards.

---Enjoy

15 Bean Soup

1. In a pot, cover the beans water and soak over night (at least 8 hours).  
2. Drain the beans, return to the pot,  add 1 quart of broth, 1 quart of water and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 1/2 hours.
4. Add onions, Rotel (optional), chili powder, garlic, thyme, paprika and lemon juice.  Simmer for another 30 minutes.
5. Salt and pepper to taste.
6. If the soup thickens too much, add broth to thin.  Yields approximately 3 quarts.

15 or so, these are the variety of  beans that are in this soup  Northern, Pinto, Large Lima, Blackeye, Garbanzo, Baby Lima, Green Split, Kidney, Cranberry, Small White, Pink, Small Red, Yellow Split, Lentil, Navy, White Kidney, Black Bean.

Ingredients 1 package (20 oz) dry 15 bean soup (discard flavor packet from the package) 1 lb low fat turkey Kielbasa sliced into 1/8" - 1/4" pieces 2 quarts low fat reduced sodium chicken broth. 1 cup onion, finely chopped 1 can 10 oz Rotel (optional) 2 teaspoons minced garlic 1 teaspoon chili powder               1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika 1/2 teaspoon thyme Juice of 1 lemon

Pinto Bean and Butternut Squash

Pinto Bean and Butternut Squash Soup

Fall is in the air.  This recipe dates back several years to when I first started making soups.  Even back then I was tweaking recipes that I had come across.  This recipe was spiced up with the addition of Rotel, chili powder and cumin.  Those were a great addition for a cool fall evening.  I have no idea where the original recipe came from, but this is my version.  I hope you like it.

---Enjoy

Pinto Bean and Butternut Squash Soup

1. Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium high heat and add the onions and celery.  Saute until the onions are golden brown.  Remember, don't rush the onions.
2. Add garlic and dried pepper flakes and cook for 5 minutes stirring often.
3. Add vegetable broth, pinto beans, diced tomatoes,butternut squash and oregano.  Bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat, cover simmer until the squash is tender, about 15 minutes.
5. Transfer 3 cups of the soup to a smaller pot and puree with an immersion blender (if you do not have an immersion blender, let the 3 cups of soup cool and use a standard kitchen blender).
6. Return the puree to the soup and simmer until heated,
7. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Roasted Garlic Ingredients: 1 medium garlic head 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil Directions: Method 1 Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Slice 1/4" off the top of the garlic bulb. Place in a small baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes or until outside of garlic is lightly browned and garlic cloves are soft. When cool enough to touch, squeeze each clove to extract the softened garlic. Place in a small baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Method 2 Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Peel each garlic clove. Place in a single layer in a small baking dish and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes or until garlic is soft.

Ingredients 1 tablespoon Olive Oil 2 cups yellow onion, chopped 1 cup celery, chopped 4 cloves fire roasted garlic, minced 4 cups low sodium vegetable broth 2 cans pinto beans (15 oz sz) 1 can diced tomatoes (14 1/2 oz) 1 can Rotel (10 oz) optional 2 cups butternut squash peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2" pieces 1 teaspoon dried oregano 4 tablespoons basil, chopped 1 teaspoon chili powder 1/2 teaspoon cumin Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste