Leftover Turkey Soup

Made this with the leftover turkey corpse (well what do you call it?) from Thanksgiving. You can modify it 100 different ways to include your favorite things. Here are mine. I was told it was a killer hangover cure, too!

• 1 turkey carcass (I don't like that word either), mine was 11 lbs
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped onions
• big fistful (that's the technical term) of whole garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 medium parsnip, chopped
• 1 tsp rosemary (I used dried but fresh is always better)
• 1 tsp sage
• 1 tsp lavender
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 cup rice
• fresh ground sea salt & pepper

First make your turkey stock by putting the turkey in a giant stockpot, filling it with water until the carcass is just barely covered, brining it to a boil & simmering for 2 hours or more. Depending on how you like your stock, you could also throw in peppercorns, herbs or other flavors.

Strain liquid and put it back in the pot. Save any meat to add back into the soup as well.

In a separate pot, sweat the aromatics: put carrots, onions, celery & garlic & parsnips on high heat with a tablespoon of olive oil. Once it begins to heat up, add in bay leaves & other herbs & seasonings.

Add strained stock back into the pot, bring to a boil, cover and simmer.

30 minutes later, add rice & simmer until all rice is cooked.

Add cut up turkey pieces to the soup. Salt & pepper to taste.

I'll add a picture next time I make it. What is it with you and pictures, anyway?