Left Overs!

[Lindanshadow]

Help! I need a recipe for turkey and noodles. I have so much turkey left over it isn't funny!!! Can anyone help?
Thanks
Linda H.

[Mary Ann]

Did you save your turkey carcass and leftover gravy?

[Lindanshadow]

Yes I did and now I don't know what to do with it!!!
Linda H

[Mary Ann]

Ooooh oooh ooooh, I know I know I know! *raising hand*

Take your turkey carcass, ugly skin (from the turkey, this is nothing personal ), bones, bits of turkey icky and throw them in a biiiig stock pot. Cover the bones with water and turn the heat on medium low, and put a lid on ajar (so that it sort of vents a bit). Bring the water to a simmer, but don't boil it; boiling makes it bitter. When you get to your simmer, turn it down to low and leave it doing this for about a day. This will smell fabbilous, if you like turkey soup.

When it's turned a rich golden color, add some herbs such as a bay leaf, some sage, thyme, rosemary, and sweet marjoram, and simmer another hour or so. Then, using a slotted spoon, drag out all the yick from the pan, leaving the broth behind. Get a big ol' bowl and put a fine sieve over it, and pour the remaining broth through it to strain out the final bits of ugly stuff. It won't hurt you, but let's face it; it's ugly. Give your big stock pot a rinse and return the broth to the big pan.

Now you have a gorgeous pot of homemade broth. If you have bunches, you might want to divide some off and freeze it for later, or you can use it right away. For turkey and noodles, cut up some of your leftover turkey and throw it in the broth. Bring it to a bubble (but not a hard boil) and throw in some wide egg noodles. Cook until the noodles are tender, about ten minutes. You can add some chopped parsley for color if you like.

If you want, throw your leftover gravy in there too, to enrich the broth. And if you want the broth to be thicker, you can add a roux to it. Roux is a mixture of butter and flour, and the flour is toasted in the butter over low heat. The butter coats the individual particles of the flour and then when added in spoonfuls to the broth it makes the flour particles swell and thicken your broth, but it won't make lumps.

Another enrichment is something called a mire poix. This is a French Thang, and it makes the broth extra rich and flavorful. If you have a food processor it makes it easy, but I do it by hand most of the time. Mire poix is traditionally a mixture of minced celery, shallots, and carrot, (but it can be onion, mushrooms, etc.) sauteed in butter over low/medium heat. The flavors are released from the veggies, and then the whole mess is dumped in your soup. You see little flecks of veggies in your soup, and they give color as well as a rich and complex flavor.

Anyway, after your noodles are cooked, taste and see if you need any pepper or salt. We don't add salt earlier in these things because they'll condense as they cook, and the salt gets concentrated. So do it right before you serve.

Does this make any sense??

[Mary Ann]

Oh, and other yummeh things to make are turkey and wild rice soup, turkey barley soup, turkey tetrazzini, turkey bacon sandwiches, yada yada. We did turkey and wild rice soup this year, and it was splendiferous.

[Lindanshadow]

It sounds wonderful! I will give it a try!! Thanks!
Linda H.

[Mary Ann]

Oh, and another thing I forgot to tell you!

In the beginning of the process, for each gallon or so of water you can add a tablespoon or two of white vinegar. Cider vinegar works, too. It'll stink when it's first cooking, but it does something amazing. It leaches a bunch of the calcium out of the bones and puts it in the broth. By the end of your cooking time, just about all the vinegar will have evaporated out and disappeared, and you'll be left with stock as rich in calcium as a glass of milk.

And the bones'll snap right in two!

[Chrisnstar]

oh, I just LOFF turkey soup!