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Turkey or Chicken Soup

Last (Canadian) Thanksgiving, my husband had some turkey stock started before we sat down to eat dinner!  He had carved the turkey just before we ate, and put all the ‘unnecessary’ bones, skin, and extra bits of meat into our stock pot with water and oregano.  Our guests did wonder what was bubbling on the stove during the meal!  After a day and a half of simmering, the stock was rich and thick, and we froze enough for 5 complete soup meals for our hungry family of seven.

This Sunday we had a roast chicken for supper.  I had cooked it until it was so tender that the meat fell off the bones.  Aha!  A perfect opportunity to make some stock!  I deboned the chicken before serving it, put all the bones in the slow cooker with lots of water, and let it simmer until Monday afternoon.

Then I made soup, the same soup I usually make with turkey stock:

  • 2 medium onions, chopped
  • 1 bulb garlic*, minced
  • 1 cup leeks, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 4 stalks celery, chopped
  • 2 potatoes, cubed
  • 2 cups salsa juice**
  • 1 cup red peppers, chopped
  • 1 cup frozen soup herbs***
  • 1/3 c fresh parsley, chopped
  • 2 t salt
  • ½ t pepper
  • 2 t oregano
  • All of the chicken stock, with bones removed and meat chopped and added back in****
  • Extra water to taste
  • 1/6 pound rice vermicelli

I mixed these all together and cooked them for about half an hour.  It made a delicious and nourishing meal, just what we needed after feeling foggy and tired all day.

Of course, you can use different vegetables and spices.  Ginger and greens make a wonderful addition, for example.

  • * I used a whole bulb of garlic this time because there seems to be a virus attacking our family; when we are feeling healthy we use less garlic.
  • ** When we make salsa, we skim some of the extra liquid off before canning it; we call this salsa juice.  Adding a half cup of salsa should give the same delicious flavor.
  • *** We use lovage, thyme, savory, chives, parsley, celery, and basil, but any combination of your favorite soup herbs will work.
  • **** If there is very little meat in the stock, I’ll often add meatballs.

For more tips and recipes, please see Homemaker Mondays, Tuesday TwisterTuesday’s Tip Jar, Frugal Friday, and Farm Girl Friday.

5 Comments

  1. IllinoisLori says:

    Hi Annie Kate! I hate to admit it, but I forgot to make turkey stock yesterday! (I know, I know…HOW could I forget?) My dh is in charge of carving the turkey, and he was in a “clean up” mode and deposited every bone and fat blog and skin scrap in the trash can. Ahhhhh. But I do still have about 10 cups of good chicken stock in my freezer!

    I absolutely LOVE your “salsa juice” idea…I have never, ever thought to do that! And we eat TONS of pico de gallo, so I am forever tossing good salsa juice down the drain. Can you freeze this salsa juice???

    Thanks so much for linking up and sharing!

    Blessings,
    Lori

    1. Annie Kate says:

      Yes, we freeze it whenever possible, although if the freezer is full, we can it.

      How frustrating about the turkey carcass. But these things happen! And on a positive note, clean up mode is good.

      Blessings,

      Annie Kate

  2. Sarah says:

    It looks scrummy!

  3. Christine says:

    Annie Kate, This soup sounds so yummy! Our family has soup night once a week all winter long. I love it!

    Blessings,
    Christine

  4. JoAnn says:

    Wow, thanks for the link. Simmering it for a day or two! Man, that seems long. Do you have to keep adding water?

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