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the obvious thing to do with leftover T-day turkey is make soup.
Find a kettle/pan/dutch oven large enough for a big chunk of your turkey carcass to fit into.
Put carcass in, bones and all, and cover with water, plus another inch or so.
Cut up the leftover potato that you didn't use for mashed potatoes.
Cut up the leftover carrots from the pre-dinner snack tray.
Cut up the leftover celery that wasn't used in the stuffing.
Cut up any leftover onions, parsley, etc.
Place them in the pot, too. Add more water, if necessary, to cover. Add a couple tablespoons chicken broth powder (I use low-sodium, of course.) Add some turkey seasoning, or Italian seasoning, or just pepper if you prefer.
Boil for about 20 minutes, then use a large fork to lift up the turkey carcass, and start scraping the meat off it back into the soup, and discarding bits of bone as you finish removing the meat from them. Having good tongs or a serious barbecue fork with long tines helps with this.
Once you've got as much bone removed as practical, check the water level again. Bring it back to boiling if it's calmed down, and throw in a handful of rice or barley. Cook according to the directions on the rice or barley - usually, bring back to a boil, then cover and simmer for somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes.
If you added Italian seasoning back there a paragraph or so ago, then instead of rice or barley, let the soup boil 10 minutes more, then add elbow macaroni and cook per package directions, usually cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes.
This will make a fairly chunky soup, more stuff than it is liquid.
It can be frozen, though the potatoes will be really mushy when you defrost it. The cure for this is to puree the whole thing after it's defrosted, then add a small chunks of freshly cooked chicken or turkey or meatballs as you reheat it all. So it's sort of a thick stew, to be served over more rice or pasta.
Find a kettle/pan/dutch oven large enough for a big chunk of your turkey carcass to fit into.
Put carcass in, bones and all, and cover with water, plus another inch or so.
Cut up the leftover potato that you didn't use for mashed potatoes.
Cut up the leftover carrots from the pre-dinner snack tray.
Cut up the leftover celery that wasn't used in the stuffing.
Cut up any leftover onions, parsley, etc.
Place them in the pot, too. Add more water, if necessary, to cover. Add a couple tablespoons chicken broth powder (I use low-sodium, of course.) Add some turkey seasoning, or Italian seasoning, or just pepper if you prefer.
Boil for about 20 minutes, then use a large fork to lift up the turkey carcass, and start scraping the meat off it back into the soup, and discarding bits of bone as you finish removing the meat from them. Having good tongs or a serious barbecue fork with long tines helps with this.
Once you've got as much bone removed as practical, check the water level again. Bring it back to boiling if it's calmed down, and throw in a handful of rice or barley. Cook according to the directions on the rice or barley - usually, bring back to a boil, then cover and simmer for somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes.
If you added Italian seasoning back there a paragraph or so ago, then instead of rice or barley, let the soup boil 10 minutes more, then add elbow macaroni and cook per package directions, usually cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes.
This will make a fairly chunky soup, more stuff than it is liquid.
It can be frozen, though the potatoes will be really mushy when you defrost it. The cure for this is to puree the whole thing after it's defrosted, then add a small chunks of freshly cooked chicken or turkey or meatballs as you reheat it all. So it's sort of a thick stew, to be served over more rice or pasta.
