Turkey Soup

photo: Black Diamond Caterers

I'm relatively sure that some of you have a turkey carcass or two laying around. (day after Thanksgiving) Therefore it must be soup time, or at very least, stock time.

Gather up the remains, and pick the good pieces of meat. These go to the fridge. Break the keel so it fits in the stockpot, add the neck, wing tips, chopped giblets (except liver) et al. Add peeled, cut carrots (mirepoix sized), white onion (same), a finger of peeled ginger (for soup, for stock - no), whole peppercorns, bay leaves and some celery. (be sure to peel it, turkey doesn't cover the bitter flavor in the outer layer) Some folks call for the white part of leeks. Certainly a great addition if you have some on hand. You can roast the bones before hand, but turkey is generally a light stock. My opinion is that this step distracts, rather than adds. Cover with cold water.

Here's the part where you must control the heat. Bring the pot to a simmer. A simmer is not a boil. In this instance, boil bad. Any time you save doing this at high heat, your going to spend at the other end trying to clarify the stock. Cock the pot a bit off the center of the flame. What this does is starts a convection cell that pushes the scum to one side or the other. (if you're using a steam jacket, it ends up in the center) You have to skim the pot regularly. If you don't, the particulates just break up and voilà tout, cloudy stock. (short review: skim good, simmer good - boil bad, cloudy bad) If your stove is cranky, or full up, you can always transfer your hot pot to the oven. (200°), just remember to skim.

After about 2 or 3 hours kill the heat. Let things stand long enough for everything to settle down. Use a ladle to pull the stock out and strain through a chinoise. The point of using the ladle is to leave the layer containing those little specks of stuff in the bottom of the stockpot. If you just pour out everything, the pressure of the pour will force things through the mesh. Taste the stock, decide if you need to reduce it, (you know the drill) and if not, chill it with an ice paddle and fridge it.

Soup is soup. Take the amount of stock you need out of storage. If it has some fat on top, spoon it off and save it. You can wilt your vegetables in it (slowly, low smoke point). Cut up your goodies, spoon your vegies out of the sauté pan (leave the oil behind. You might want to heat your meat a bit to remove any clinging fat before it goes into the pot too) Uncooked stuff first, cooked stuff last... bowl, spoon, sandwich, and you're done.

The above picture is from a caterer in Saratoga Springs, NY. (link) She has a nice variation posted as well as other recipes.