Soup Happens...

One of my favorite things after the holidays is the ubiquitous bowl of turkey soup. I have no tried or true recipe, I just throw stuff together along with some turkey stock and soup happens.

Turkey Stock

8 quarts water

1 turkey carcass, meat removed.
turkey skin (optional, but nice...)
1 onion, quartered, then quarters halved
2 whole heads garlic, skin removed and cut horizontally
2 carrots rough chopped into large pieces

Into a tea ball add:
1 tea cracked pepper corns (not ground)
1/4 tea each: dried tarragon, dried oregano, dried thyme, dried basil
2 bay leaves

Time to get all Hanibal on the bird's remains. Break up the carcass into smaller pieces, cutting bigger bones in half. Place mangled bones/carcass into stockpot and cover with water. Allow to simmer for 2 hours. DO NOT STIR!! Occasionally, skim off the junk that forms along the surface of the water with a spoon-but do not agitate the bones.

After 2 hours, carefully add vegetables and tea bag to the pot and allow to simmer for an hour longer.

Carefully pour hot stock through a cheesecloth lined strainer. This is where I get a blister, mutter some bad words, etc. Stock is ready for immediate use.

If not used immediately, place container of hot stock into a sink of ice water and stir to cool. Do not place hot liquid into refrigerator. Continue to give it the polar bear treatment until liquid is cool THEN place in refrigerator. Allow to chill out in the fridge overnight, then skim off the fat that accumulates on the surface the following day. Use within a few days--or pour into cube trays, freeze then transfer cubes into freezer bags for later use.

To crack peppercorns, place whole pepper corns on a cutting board and use something flat, hard and heavy to smash them with. I do not suggest using ground pepper as this will linger in an otherwise clear stock.