Thanksgiving Hangover Recipe: Turkey Noodle Soup

The best part of a roasted poultry is the inevitable soup you can make with the carcass. A lot of people get intimidated by making a soup, but it’s one of the easiest things you can do. If you can fill a pot with ingredients, you can make this soup.

Ingredients

• Bones from one turkey, picked clean of as much meat as possible
• 2 cups diced or shredded turkey
• 4 carrots
• 8 ribs of celery
• 1 onions
• 1 package egg noodles, cooked
• ½ tsp ground marjoram
• ½ tsp ground thyme leaves (you may have to grind them yourself)
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp kosher salt (use table salt if you must; I’m a salt snob these days)

Directions

1. Quarter the onion and slice up 2 carrots and 4 ribs of celery. Add the bones and other assorted turkey bits to a large 8-quart or larger stock pot with the cut vegetables, herbs, spices, and salt. Add water to cover. You want the total volume to be 7-8 quarts. Place over medium-low heat, covered, for at least 8 hours, preferably more. This may be a good application for your slow cooker. You’ll know the finished product is done when the liquid looks like melted gelatin.
2. Using a mesh strainer or colander, strain the mixture into another container. If you want to make the broth very clear, line the strainer with cheesecloth first and squeeze out all of the liquid. Discard the solids.
3. Put the finished stock back in the pot. Slice up the remaining vegetables and add to the soup with the diced turkey. Simmer over medium-low heat for about ten minutes so that the vegetables are cooked but still firm. Add the egg noodles and serve immediately.

You know you’ve made the soup correctly if it turned into what looks like a Jell-O mold when you store it in the fridge. That’s the goodness you’ve extracted from the bones and what makes this soup so lip-smacking good.