I’m not really a homemade soup kind of gal, and I attribute that to three factors; one, I don’t often cook things that have the potential to be turned into soup (I tend to run with boneless chicken breasts and steaks; as bones are often the basis for stocks, no bones means no stock). Two, I don’t have the capacity for the storage of bulky things; my freezer is pretty small, and I can’t afford to fill that space with tubs of soup. Three, while we do eat a lot of soup here at Chez Chili, we all like very different soups, so the convenience of ready-to-eat really works for us (and there’s nothing at all wrong with Progresso).
Yesterday’s Thanksgiving dinner yielded the ribs and back of a smallish turkey, though, and Mr. Chili decided, after stripping the thing of as much turkey dinner sandwich fodder as he was able, to drop it into a cauldron of water and set it to simmering. Whether he was inspired by the fact that I’ve been sick for a week or the fact that trash collection is delayed a day this week because of the holiday I’ll never know; regardless of the reason, there’s a pot of turkey broth simmering on my stove as I write this.
Turkey soup isn’t hard (NO soup is hard, really), it just takes a while. Start with some bones and a pot sufficient to hold enough water to cover said bones. I drop in a quartered onion (don’t bother peeling it; the skins impart a pretty color on the broth) and a clove of garlic and maybe some other herbs – whatever strikes your fancy is perfectly fine. Bring all that water to a rolling boil, cover the pot, lower the heat, and simmer for a long time – we left the pot on overnight.
Fish the bones out, then line a colander with paper towels and set it over another large pot, sufficiently sized to hold the broth you’re about to strain into it. Return the stock to the stove top, then add some diced turkey (I pick whatever meat still looks yummy out of the colander, then add some more from my leftover stash) and whatever vegetables suit you; this time, I’m going for some diced carrots, and some chopped onions (really, though, you needn’t stop where I did; diced potatoes, sliced celery, chopped tomatoes, even peas would go nicely here). You can also add about 1/4 cup of rice for each cup of stock (if I do, I use brown rice and I eyeball it, but then again, I’d rather too little rice than too much; this time, though, I’m using orzo, instead). Adjust for seasoning here – you’ll probably want some salt, and perhaps a little pepper, and there’s nothing that says a cube or two of chicken bouillon is off limits, either; if you use it, though just remember to adjust for salt after – then let the whole thing gently cook some more, until everything is tender and yummy.














