John's homemade soup

[Greg The Hammer Valentine]

Although I've never had it, I notice 16 Oz. Homemade Turkey and Vegetable Soup popping up a lot on John's food logs and it looks like a nice, balanced food -- any chance you'll let us in on the recipe?

[John Stone]

Greg,

I'll have to defer this request to my mom, as it's her recipe and I don't know how to make it. When she was here at Christmas time, she made this Turkey soup for us. I froze a bunch of it and now I thaw it out for lunch sometimes.

My mom is such an excellent cook! I think I like cooking so much because of her (but I'm not even in her ballpark skill-wise).

So mom, feel like sharing?

[Jim]

I've made veg soup with chicken, but not turkey. It's quite easy to make.

[meg in houston]

Thanks for the compliment, John.

I'll post the recipe over the weekend when I have time for figure out the details. This is a "toss and taste" sort of soup, but will give general ingredients and guidelines.

[meg in houston]

Here is the recipe:
Turkey Soup

8 cups de-fatted turkey stock made from bones or no salt canned chicken broth
1 large can diced fire roasted tomatoes
2 bags frozen mixed vegetables
3 – 5 stalks celery chopped
1 each red, yellow and green bell pepper chopped
1 onion chopped
4 cloves garlic chopped
3 cups roughly chopped cooked turkey
Seasoning to taste: ancho chili powder (I used about 1 ½ tablespoons) cumin, chili powder (about 2 tsp) herbs (thyme, oregano, etc.) chopped fresh parsley, salt and pepper
1 tbs. Olive oil

Optional: potatoes (diced), cooked rice (add when reheating individual portions), beans
(navy, pinto, black, etc.) Black beans work very well.

Saute in a skillet with olive oil the onion, bell peppers and celery, about 3 minutes, add garlic and sauté another 2 minutes or so. Add herbs, a little salt and pepper and chili powders and sauté another 2 minutes or so, stirring so chili doesn’t burn. Remove from heat and stir in tomatoes and parsley.

In a large pot, heat stock then stir in the mixed vegetables, chopped turkey and the contents of the skillet. Cook for an hour or two on low heat, uncovered. Cool in water bath, then chill in refrigerator. Skim any fat, taste for seasoning. At this point you can add more vegetables, beans, etc. if you want the soup thicker. Heat through, then pack in individual serving containers and refrigerate. Will keep 3-4 days refrigerated or 6 months frozen at zero.

Variations: add chopped cabbage, kale, any fresh veggies on hand such as zucchini, squash, carrots, or green beans. Do not use broccoli. Substitute chicken for turkey.
To make it vegetarian, use vegetable stock and add beans for protein.
Alter seasoning by using various herbs, etc. to taste,
Makes about 20 cups

[anteyes]

That sounds sooo good. I'm definetely making that SOON. Thanks!

[Greg The Hammer Valentine]

I totally agree. Thanks so much for taking the time to write all that up for us!

[davidegee]

Originally Posted by meg in houston

Variations: Do not use broccoli.

Any particular reason for this?

Thanks for sharing the recipe, it looks good.

[meg in houston]

Originally Posted by davidegee

Any particular reason for this?

Thanks for sharing the recipe, it looks good.

Broccoli gives a "sulphur" taste when cooked a long time; gets mushy and tastes nasty. If you must have it, add it when heating up the soup to eat, but it really doesn't add anything to the taste.