A couple workout posts and I feel like I need to post something about food! Thanksgiving was (as always) so much fun. I never turn down an opportunity to see family and when you throw in some delicious food. Forget about it. It's not really an option not to go! After the fantastic traditional Thanksgiving meal my aunt graciously gave me the carcass. I was going to make, and can, some turkey stock. She told me that she normally uses to make turkey soup the next day. DONE! So yesterday I started the process in the morning of making my own stock and then used that stock in turkey soup for dinner. This was the first attempt I made at the soup and I tell you what, I don't ever want to use those store bought stocks again!!!
Here's me at work:
To the biggest pot I had I added the carcass (I didn't leave it whole so it would fit, break it up!), parsley, basil, bay leaves, carrot, celery and onion. Then filled it with cold water until it covered the bones...my pot wasn't big enough so I added it to the top :)
After cooking for about 6ish hours on med-low heat the water reduced by a little more than half. So i strained it (obviously keeping the liquid). The bones feel apart making it easy to scrape off all the extra meat and add it back into the soup. I didn't want to through away the veggies in the stock so I pureed them in hopes it would make the stock a little thicker...
Sorry for the sideways picture! I forgot to rotate! So about the pureed veggies...that is why the stock in now orange :) I put the stock back on the stove top and added the rest of the celery I had and the rest of the carrot. (probably about 8-10 of each) Then I added the extra meat I scored off the bones and the meat that was sent home with me from dinner. I let that cook on low for about 2 hours (until the veggies were soft).
These are the noodles I used. I wanted to use flat long noodles and I thought I was going to have to cut up some linguine but I spotted these from the corner of my eye! SCORE! I added them straight to the soup to let them cook. I put in more noodles than I intended to I actually added some hot water to the soup so the noodles wouldn't absorb all the deliciousness. After I added them i turned the heat up so the soup would boil. After about 20ish minutes we ate.
And this is the finished product picture you get because when the food was ready I wasn't about to stop myself and take a picture. My house smelt delicious all day and I wanted to enjoy some goodness.
This process was so easy! Put everything on the stove and forget about it. I never stirred or looked at it while it cooked. In fact, I was mostly outside helping Mr. Wonderful clean the shed out and make a side door so we could park toys in there (lawn mower and snow machine). And better than it being that easy was how good it really was! The flavors...I can't. You just have to do it to know what I'm talking about. Also, the sense of accomplishment. When something takes this long to get done you hope it's good. To use something that way makes me feel good. I love doing things like this. It makes me want to use the leftover bones from the animals Mr. Wonderful harvests to make soup stock with. I could just go on and on...
Until next time,
xoxo
