leftover turkey soup

oh my GOODNESS did we have thanksgiving leftovers!  bless the wallaces’ hearts, it took five days just to get it all under control.  i am most certainly grateful for such abundance (as things are still making their way into smaller containers and into the freezer! :)

there were two turkeys that had been carved down and i volunteered to keep one of them to try my hand at making soup stock.  i didn’t want to let it go to waste if i could help it, though getting a large turkey carcass to fit in a pot with two inches of water covering it was trying indeed!  

*i’m not a strict vegetarian.  i don’t eat a lot of meat either, and like to know where it came from and how it lived before i put it into my body.  i run into some moral trouble when it comes to things like processing a turkey carcass.  if i’m going to eat it i feel i should darn well be able to deal with it in its less than romantic state (not to mention be able to face its life--and death--before it was presented to me as food).  and this endeavor was definitely less than romantic.  

that said, i brought the pot to a boil and then turned it down to simmer, leaving it for several hours.  if the water level got too low i added a bit more in and stirred it occasionally.  it went into the fridge overnight and the next day i heated it enough to liquify it again, then had to dig through and pull out all of the bones and less than desirable bits.

i gotta say, this kinda tripped out a bit.  i mean, nature doesn’t skimp out.  there were a million and a half parts to that bird and every bone, tendon and muscle served a very specific purpose.  what an absolute work of art, what a perfect being of beauty, and what a thing of awe that we can be nourished by it.  i have never felt so much respect for an animal that was my food before, and i think that has become difficult with such a separation between us and the process.  meat lines the grocery store coolers and we don’t have to think any more about it than that.  

i feel that a close connection to our food is important regardless of what we eat or don’t eat.  i have the most amazing chickens in the world running around my backyard and i am blessed with incredibly beautiful and nutritious eggs every morning.  i get to go out in my bare feet (with my babies clucking behind me every step) and pull cherry tomatoes from an accidental plant that now needs a fourth cage to hold it up, clip okra from a tiny forest, and break chard and collard leaves from their plants with a crisp and unparalleled satisfaction.  it’s an awe inspiring thing, and i love and respect it as such.

so.  back to my miracle soup.  i heated it up a third night, finally ready to “finish” it, and added several cups of water to mellow out the richness.  really, it didn’t feel like it was lacking much of anything.  it smelled divine and was thick and beautiful.  i cooked up some spiral noodles to throw in and minced 3 or 4 cloves of garlic.  there was the last of a sad looking head of fennel in the bottom drawer so i added that for a bit of green.  

that was really all.  there's enough for half a dozen meals and then some.  i’m glad i took the time and energy to make something wonderful out of something that would’ve been easy to deem disgusting and throw away.

leftover turkey soup

approximate price: if you’ve already got a turkey, then free!+a half bag of pasta

*it is never my intention to tell anyone what they should or shouldn't eat, and i'm not advocating for any kind of diet, other than creativity and using what you have.  this adventure happened to involve some emotion, so i have shared that as part of my process.