Portland Foodie

Turkey Noodle Soup

Turkey Noodle Soup is an old favorite of mine, particularly around Thanksgiving. In fact, this is made from leftover turkey I vacuum sealed and stored in the deep freeze last turkey day. I was inspired to get it out at the beginning of March as temperatures in Portland dropped and sleet started falling.

It is an easy soup to make, but oh so delicious. Here's how it goes:

2 lbs turkey left overs (I had a carcass and miscellaneous cuts)
2 large yellow onions
3 leeks
1 head of garlic
8 carrots
6 celery stalks
6 bay leaves
1 each thyme, rosemary, oregano
1/2 tsp dried chipotle peppers
4 oz bow tie pasta
olive oil and butter
salt and pepper

Place turkey in a large stock pot and cover with water. Clean and roughly chop one onion, half of garlic, and half of carrots, and half of celery to the pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to a low boil. Leave in place for an hour or so, making sure it doesn't boil over or reduce more than a third.

Strain contents, return stock to stove. Sift through turkey bones and remove meat and save to add back to the pot later. Bring stock back to a boil, reduce heat to a low boil and reduce stock until it is half of its original volume. Slice remaining onion and leeks, add to a pan with olive oil and a bit of butter. Caramelize over low heat. Once stock is reduced, add remaining carrots, celery, garlic. Then add bay, thyme, rosemary, oregano, chipotle peppers and let simmer until carrots are mostly tender. Add pasta and cook according to directions. Add turkey during the last few minutes to reheat. Serve with curls of Parmiggiano Reggiano top. YUM!

Lemon Chicken Pasta Soup

This week we are fortunate to have a guest foodie post from one of my favorite mamapreneurs right here in Portland! Marlynn Jayme Schotland is the founder of Mamapreneurs, Inc. and the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio Show, Mamapreneurs. She has the most amazing recipe for Lemon Chicken Pasta Soup...sure to cure the sniffles.

And if this inspires you to search for more fabulous chicken recipes, either follow this link, or use the new Google custom search box I added. It will take you where you need to go in a snap!.

 Lemon Chicken Pasta Soup

Ingredients

• 1  (4-5 pound) whole chicken
• 2  carrots, peeled, cut in 1-inch pieces
• 2  celery stalks, cut in 1-inch pieces

• 1  medium onion, peeled and sliced

• 4  garlic cloves, crushed
• Handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 7  cups  water
• 1 1/2  cups chopped carrot

• 1 1/4  cups chopped onion
• 1  cup chopped celery
• 2  teaspoons  salt
• 8  ounces uncooked orzo or other tiny pasta (little star-shaped pasta works well if you’ve got kids)
• 1/4  cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 1/2  teaspoons grated lemon rind

• 1 cup fresh lemon juice

Preparation

1. Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken. Place chicken in a large Dutch oven. Add 2 chopped carrots, 2 chopped celery stalks, and onion, garlic and parsley to pan. Add water; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes.

2. Remove chicken from pan; place chicken in a bowl. Chill 15 minutes. Discard skin; remove chicken from bones, discarding bones. Chop chicken into bite-sized pieces; cover and chill. Strain broth mixture through a sieve into a large bowl; discard solids. Cool broth mixture to room temperature. Cover and chill 5 to 24 hours. Skim fat from surface; discard.

3. Add enough water to broth to equal 9 cups; place broth mixture in a large Dutch oven. Add 1 1/2 cups carrot, 1 1/4 cups onion, 1 cup celery, and salt to pan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add reserved chicken, and simmer 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Keep warm.

4. Cook pasta according to package directions. Add pasta to pan with chicken and broth mixture; stir in parsley, rind, and juice.

 

 

Turkey Borscht

This is recipe is a loose interpretation of Borscht. In the event that you aren't familiar with this type of soup, it is an old Eastern European dish that relies heavily on beets. Historically, it has been only the root of the beet that has been used, but in my recipe I add the leaves for flavor, texture and nutrients.

The inspiration for this taste treat came from an overwhelming volume of Thanksgiving turkey...and oddly enough, beets. The beets were actually part of a delivery from my favorite Portland organic produce delivery folks, Organics to You. In this delivery, I also had a head of cauliflower and some celery...so those ended up in the soup, too.

Alright, enough chatter, here's how it all came down:

2-3 cups rough cut turkey
2 celery ribs
1 large yellow onion
5 medium beets
1 cauliflower head
1 Tbsp fennel seeds
1 tsp dried sage
2 cloves of garlic
1/3 bag of egg noodles
6 cups of stock

Clean and cut the beets and cauliflower into roughly the same size pieces. Place on baking sheet, toss in olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until nicely caramelized.

In stock pot, saute chopped onion, fennel seeds and celery ribs in olive oil and a tbsp of butter until softened. Add garlic and saute for a couple of minutes, be careful not to burn! Add roasted veggies, turkey, sage, and stock. Cover pot with a lid, turn up the burner to high and wait for it to come to a boil.

When soup is boiling, add 1/3 bag of egg noodles (or any kind you prefer) and cook until done. When the noodles are done, the soup is ready to serve.

Making a Basic Stock

Making stock is much easier than you might realize. I will admit, it takes a bit of time, but the end result is tres magnifique!

There are a couple of things that you can do that will make this an easier process. Here are my stock making tips:

• When you make a roast, chicken or turkey, collect miscellaneous bones and scraps, put in a vacuum sealer bag and seal it up tightly. Store in the fridge for up to a year.
• Any leftover veggies or veggie scraps (like the ends of asparagus) can be saved this way, too. If you don't use them in the stock, you can always add them to the soup.
• Parmesan cheese rinds are great for flavor enhancing...throw them in the freezer.
• In the summer, dry herbs, tomatoes and mushrooms for use in winter soups.
• Ginger, horseradish and other flavorful roots are great in stock.
• If you want a deeper, richer flavor, throw the bones and root veggies in the oven and roast until caramelized, then add to stock pot.

Alright, that said, let's get down to business. This is my basic stock method:

• One or two chicken carcasses or whole chicken parts (bone-in, only)
• Carrots, celery, other handy root veggies
• Large onion or two
• Head of garlic
• Bay leaves, basil, rosemary, thyme, various herbs and spices to suit your taste
• Salt and pepper

Throw said contents into a large stock pot. Don't bother with too much vegetable prep, just clean and rough chop. Many people don't remove the outer shell of the onion or of the garlic...but that just bugs me. So, I remove the papery part, rough chop and throw in.

Here are the two things that I find greatly affect the outcome of my stock. One, if I don't reduce enough, it tastes like water. Always reduce your stock by half, even by two-thirds... Two, if I don't add enough salt... always add some salt in the beginning. When it is getting closer to the right level of reduction, I adjust for flavor.

And that's it! I know you can do this...and it is such a wonderful, creative process...give it a try and let me know how it goes.