This recipe came to life about 10-15 years ago after smoking my own Thanksgiving turkey. Wanting to put the leftover turkey to
good use, I used a combination of recipes to create my own that remains a staple every year. My grandkids love it!
With the colder weather, I thought it would be good to go ahead and share with you (and I talk about this recipe in the book!).
If you can smoke your own turkey, do it! If not, you can easily buy one pre-smoked at a grocer or a smokehouse.
Ingredients
1 12-15-quart stockpot
*1 Turkey carcass (preferably smoked) with 3 lbs. of meat on it. (About an 8 lb. bird)
4 Carrots: sliced to desired thickness
4 Celery: Stalks sliced to desired thickness
1 Onion: (medium to large), diced
2 Cups Wild Rice
1 Cup White Rice (Preferably Basmati or Brown)
1 Cup of Corn (fresh or canned)
1.5 cups Half & Half or Whole Milk
1 stick of butter or 4 tablespoons of Olive Oil
- White flour (or Corn Starch for gluten-free) for thickening the soup
- Chicken Base
- Salt, Pepper, dried Thyme
1. In a large stockpot (12-15 quarts), simmer carcass in enough water to entirely submerge; boil and then simmer for at least one hour (or longer for an even better tasting soup stock).
2. While carcass simmers, melt butter in a large skillet and add the carrots, celery and onions. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low heat until onions and celery are translucent, and carrots are slightly tender. Remove from stovetop and set aside.
3. After turkey carcass has simmered, remove from pot and place in a large bowl to cool down and reserve the broth. After cooled, pull off meat, set aside and discard carcass.
4. If the simmered broth has any cartilage, small bones or skin floating around, strain them out. Return stock to pot on stovetop and turn heat to low.
5. Mix chicken base into the turkey broth; slowly and continuously stir. Keep tasting as you mix in the chicken base until the broth is flavored to your taste. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Slowly add enough of the cornstarch or flour to the broth and stir until it is at your desired thickness. (For a thin, brothy soup, do NOT use any of the thickening agents. For a chowder-like thickness, keep adding and stirring. It’s a judgment call on how thick you want this to be.)
7. Add bite-size turkey meat, carrots, celery, onions, corn and wild/white rice.
8. Continue simmering for :45 minutes, stirring regularly.
9. Add milk or half & half depending on desired creaminess. Continue simmering and stirring for :15 minutes. Add salt, pepper and thyme to taste and remove from burner.
10. Serve.
Enjoy!