Turkey Soup

I roasted a turkey breast on the barbecue a few nights ago for dinner and let me say: DELISH!!! I lifted the skin from the breast and layered local-grown onions & garlic on the meat, and then layer the skin back down. The breast was then placed in a metal baking tin, covered in foil and placed on the barbecue in indirect heat. I left it for about an hour or so, til the juices were running clear. I made stuffing too, in another pan, covered and on the grill (indirect heat again) for about 40 minutes or so. the whole thing was fantastic! We had corn & roast local potatoes too to top it off. Not my most colourful meal, but it was delicious!

Anyway. The breast fed all of us with no trouble. There were juices in the pan that I would have used for gravy, but as the potatoes were roasted we decided to skip the gravy. I kept them for he soup I knew would be coming… there is about 2 cups of meat left now that I’ve cleaned the bones. The soup will be great!

Okay, so here’s what I’m doing:

Ingredients

bones from turkey breast (and any skin that’s left too — fatty remains make yummy broth)
4 cups water
1 bay leaf
1 clove of local-grown garlic (tough to find! Check your farmers market)
1/2 tsp pepper corns
reserve juices from roasting pan
onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled & diced
meat from the turkey bones cut/ripped into bite-sized pieces
fresh-shelled peas
leftover stuffing

1/4 cup brown rice

1.5 tsp kosher salt

Method
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1. Pick your bones clean. Not too clean though, you want some meat on them to enhance the flavour a bit. Put the meat aside for use in the actual soup, which comes later.
2. Pour the water into a med-sized pot. Add bones, and turn element to med-low heat.
3. Add the bay leaf. Place garlic clove on your cutting board, lay a knife over it and press down. This will break your clove releasing the juices but not making small pieces. This is key, because you want to be able to remove it from the pan when the broth is done. Next add the peppercorns. Now cover the pot and allow to come to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to low and continue to simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally.
5. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bones and spices from the pot. What remains should be a clear, yummy-smelling broth. Discard the bones & spices, we’re done with them now.

At this point you can turn the burner off and cool the broth.  Once it’s cooled down, you can refridgerate it or freeze it for use at a later date.  This is a great idea if you don’t have a lot of meat left to put into the soup.  Next time you need soup stock, you have some ready to go.  If however you’re ready to proceed with making the soup, carry on:

1. Add in the juice reserves from the pan the turkey was cooked in, stirring to mix into the broth. Allow to cook for a minute or two.
2. Next, add in the onion, carrot, meat, peas and rice. Allow to simmer until the rice is cooked, about 40 minutes or so
3. Add in the stuffing, simmer for another 5 minutes and serve.

I would have added in turnip and some diced potato too, but I didn’t have any turnip and I thought that the stuffing & rice made it startchy enough. You may find that the soup is lacking somthing; if this is the case, add some salt, a little at a time, until the flavour is perfect to you. I like A LOT of salt! lol… and I typically use Kosher salt; there’s something about it that really enhances flavour. Regular table salt will be just fine too. Use what you have on hand, it will be perfect!

Making a broth is pretty basic; if you have more bones (like, a whole chicken or turkey, pork bones, whatever) just make sure there’s enough water in the pot to cover the bones and you’ll be great.

Happy cooking!