Leftover Turkey Soup
If you haven't made this already, I hope you've frozen your turkey carcass and it's just waiting in your freezer for you to take it out and make this wonderful after-Thanksgiving treat.
For the stock:
1 turkey carcass, including any leftover drippings or giblets
Cold water
1 medium to large yellow onion, quartered or cut into thick wedges
1 to 2 carrots, roughly chopped
Several sprigs of fresh parsley
1 bay leaf
1 celery rib (roughly chopped) and some celery tops
5 to 10 peppercorns
Salt and p
epper
For the soup:
1 to 1 1/2 cups each, chopped carrots, onion and celery
A few sprigs of fresh parsley, leaves chopped (2 to 4 Tbsps.)
A couple cloves garlic, minced
Seasoning - a couple teaspoons or more of poultry seasoning, oregano, rosemary (to taste)
2 cups or more of leftover chopped or shredded cooked turkey meat
Salt and pepper to taste
Egg noodles or rice
Making the stock
Remove all the usable turkey meat from the turkey carcass to save for making sandwiches later and for adding to the soup once the stock is made. Put the turkey carcass, neck, leftover skin and bones and drippings in large pot and cover with water.
Add onion, carrots, celery and celery tops, parsley, bay leaf and some peppercorns to the pot.
Bring to a boil on high heat and then lower the heat to keep the stock to a bare simmer. Add salt and pepper to the pot, about 1 tsp. of salt, 1/2 tsp. of ground black pepper and cook for at least 4 hours, partially uncovered, occasionally skimming off any foam that comes to the surface. Strain the stock through a fine mesh sieve or strainer.
Making the soup
In a large soup pot, heat butter or olive oil on medium high heat. Add chopped carrots, onions, and celery in equal parts. Cook until the onions are softened. Add a couple cloves of garlic, chopped, and cook for a minute more, until the garlic is fragrant. Then add the stock to the pot. Add some parsley and seasoning-salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, sage, thyme, marjoram.
Bring to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are just cooked through. Add turkey meat, noodles: Add rice, noodles, or even leftover mashed potatoes.
Take the remaining turkey meat you reserved earlier, shred it into bite-sized pieces and add it to the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Recipe adapted from SimplyRecipes.com
Rustic Cabbage Soup
Serves 4
1 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Salt to taste
1/2 pound potatoes, skin on, cut 1/4-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
5 cups stock
1 1/2 cups white beans, precooked or canned (drained & rinsed well)
1/2 medium cabbage, cored and sliced into 1/4-inch ribbons
More good-quality extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Warm the olive oil in a large thick-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the salt and potatoes. Cover and cook until they are a bit tender and starting to brown a bit, about 5 minutes - it's o.k. to uncover to stir a couple times. Stir in the garlic and onion and cook for another minute or two. Add the stock and the beans and bring the pot to a simmer. Stir in the cabbage and cook for a couple more minutes, until the cabbage softens up a bit. Now adjust the seasoning - getting the seasoning right is important or your soup will taste flat and uninteresting. Taste and add more salt if needed, the amount of salt you will need to add will depend on how salty your stock is (varying widely between brands, homemade, etc.)... Serve drizzled with a bit of olive oil and a generous dusting of cheese.
Recipe from www.101cookbooks.com
Kale and Apple Salad
3 Tbsps. fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsps. extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
1 bunch kale, ribs removed, leaves very thinly sliced
1/4 cup dates
1 apple
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1 ounce pecorino, finely grated (1/4 cup)
Freshly ground black pepper
Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil and 1/4 tsp. salt in a large bowl. Add the kale, toss to coat and let stand 10 minutes.
While the kale stands, cut the dates into thin slivers and the apple into thin matchsticks. Add the dates, apples, almonds and cheese to the kale. Season with salt and pepper and toss well.
Recipe from FoodNetwork.com
Baked Sweet Potatoes
Scrub and thoroughly dry sweet potatoes. Pierce with a fork several times. Rub with a little bit of vegetable oil and bake in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes. Do not wrap in foil.
Try topping your sweet potato with cinnamon and coconut milk, or butter and crunchy pecans.