Soup Recipe and the Post Turkey Day Haze

For a small gathering of only four people, this past week was still filled with kitchen activity. Thursday was lovely with a groaning board that made appropriate groans, and Friday passed in a haze of appreciating how clean the kitchen was while reheating leftovers.

Today, Saturday, is soup day. Our turkey was 12 1/2 lb and we just started on the second half at last night’s dinner reheats. Which means there’s plenty of meat left for freezing and repurposing through the rest of the winter, and a whole carcass with which to make broth.

25 years ago I found this recipe for using up the turkey in a Southern Living Christmas book, and it’s been our go-to ever since. Occasionally we try something new, but we always come back to this delicious, warming, cozy stew.

Cream of Turkey and Rice Soup

1 turkey carcass
½ cup butter or margarine
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 large onion, chopped (about 1 ½ cups)
2 shallots, chopped (if you haven’t got any, don’t worry, just omit them)
3 large carrots, scraped and chopped
3 stalks celery, sliced
1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1 ½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme or ½ tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 cup whipping cream (single cream for Brits)

Place turkey carcass in a large stockpot or Dutch oven, add water to cover. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 1 hour. Remove carcass from broth, reserving 10 cups of broth. Freeze whatever excess broth you have in 1 cup or 2 cup portions. Cool carcass and pick meat from bone. Set meat aside.

First, you make a roux. Melt butter in stockpot over medium-high heat. Add flour and cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly. (Roux will be a blond color.) Add onion, shallots, carrot and celery to roux; reduce heat to medium. Cook 10 minutes, stirring often. Stir in reserve broth, turkey meat, rice, salt, pepper, thyme and bay leaf; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until rice is tender. If you’re going to freeze some of this soup, ladle out a portion to freeze now before you add the cream. Add whipping cream; simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes or until desired thickness.