Post-Turkey Day Stock and Soup

Thanksgiving was a fun time.  Our friends and their baby boy joined us and we made an obscene amount of food for only four of us! We are grateful for a lot this year.  Matt lost his job but was only jobless for four weeks before finding a new job for a small company that he really enjoys! The whole experience has been the best bad thing to ever happen to us.  I am thankful that God knows exactly what we need exactly when we need it and always provides.

 This post is about thanksgiving leftovers.  Due to the loss of my sanity over the past few weeks with finals, it is severely delayed, but don't leave yet. The tastiness can be enjoyed year round.

First - make homemade stock.  I've had several people express shock and admiration over the fact that I make my own stock.  But the secret is that there is no set recipe, you can make it very easily with things you usually have in your pantry and fridge, you can make a lot at one time, it freezes well, and it just tastes better.  

Here's how I make it:  Whether you're using a turkey or chicken, clean as much meat and fat off the bones as you can.  Or if you don't feel like it - then don't!  While the stock cooks all the extra meat will fall right off the bones and you can fish it out later.  Throw the bones (I really don't like to use the word carcass...ugh) into a large stock pot or crock pot.  If you have a turkey and it is too big, you may need to get it into pieces.  I'm sure there is a technical way to do this, or you can just be like me and hack and rip at it and work out some energy.  The bones of a chicken usually fit perfectly, and using a rotisserie chicken eliminates cooking the bird.

Now, at this point you could literally just fill the pot with water and some salt and let it go.  But, because you want loads of flavor you can add any or all of these ingredients:

Onion (about 1)

Leek (about 1)

Celery (about 2 stalks)

Carrots (about 2)

Whole peppercorns (about 1/2 tbs)

1-2 bay leaves

Kosher salt  (just a light sprinkling. Go low sodium!)

The amounts really do not matter! Use what you have!  Use enough for good flavor but not so much that you won't have any room for water.

Because you're just sucking all the flavor out of everything, you don't need to worry about peeling stuff or even throwing out the ends! In this batch I just threw in some boiling onions that I had in the freezer.  And speaking of the freezer, I'm going to share a tip that makes throwing some stock together even easier.  This is courtesy of my dear friend Ashley, we're such a good team!   Get a gallon freezer bag and label it "stock," when you have any of the above veggies that are at the end of their fridge life, or you have ends/peels/scraps throw them in the bag in the freezer.  When you have bones to make stock you can pull the veggies straight out of the bag and throw them in the pot!!  Genius or what?

After this, fill up the pot with water.  If doing it on the stove, bring it to a boil and then simmer, covered, for at least 3-4 hours but really as long as you want.  The longer the better. You can also put your crock pot on low and let it go for 24 hours.  By the way, your home will smell very very yummy.

When it's done.  Remove the large chunks with tongs and then pour the rest through a sieve and into a large bowl.  Go through the solids and dig out any extra meat that came off!  Allow to cool.  I often just stick it straight into the fridge without the lid on.  When my mom makes stock in the winter and it's cold out, she puts the bowl out on the porch!  Here in Texas, we rely on the fridge... Anyway, once it sits for a while the fat will rise to the top and harden.  You can then skim it off and throw it away or if you're feeling really fancy you can use it as a starter for some gravy.  

After that, bag up the stock (I use quart size freezer bags of 2-3 cups of stock).  Lay them flat in your freezer.  Once they are frozen they will be perfectly stackable!  This batch made about 8 cups of stock and I had enough bones from a turkey to make three batches!  I ended up throwing some bones and leftover veggies into a bag in the freezer for making more stock at a later date.  I have lots of stock.  Must make soup.

Speaking of soup, I have to brag on my husband.  He came up with this Turkey Tortilla Soup - inspired by a soup at Chuy's, our favorite Tex-Mex place.  This was seriously some of the best soup I've had in a long time.  

Turkey Tortilla Soup  (or make it with chicken) - 4-5 servings

Drizzle of olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 cloves garlic, chopped  (The chunks of garlic really added something extra!)

1 serrano pepper, chopped   (For less spice, remove all or some seeds)

3 cups stock

1- 1 1/2 cups chopped turkey

1 can diced tomatoes

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Juice of 1/2 lime

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1 avocado, chopped

Tortilla chips

Brown onion and garlic in large sauce pan in olive oil.  Throw in serrano for last 30 seconds then add all other ingredients through lime.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer one hour, covered.  Garnish with cilantro and avocado and serve with tortilla chips.