Creamy Turkey and Rice Soup with Goat Cheese

I made this soup with home made turkey stock that I made from the carcass of my bird for Thanksgiving – recipe is on a prior post – and the leftover meat.  This was REALLY tasty, and very quick to make.  I started with  a recipe from a magazine, but I added so much stuff to it that it really does'nt even resemble the original.  I used Brown Rice, but Wild Rice would actually be best.  Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 stick unsalted butter, cubed

3 carrots, finely chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

1 medium onion, finely chopped

4 cups chicken or turkey broth

2 1/2 cups cooked brown or wild rice cooked to package instructions.  I cooked the rice in home made turkey broth, not water

½ cup crumbled Goat Cheese

2 cups half and half

2+ cups cubed cooked turkey

½ cup flour

½ tsp dried tarragon

½ tsp dried rosemary

½ tsp basil

½ tsp red pepper flakes

½ tsp Kosher salt

½ tsp fresh ground pepper

Directions:

1)      In a large Dutch Oven, melt butter over medium high heat.  Add carrots, celery, and onion, cook, stirring frequently, till tender.  About 8 minutes or so.  Don’t let the butter burn.

2)      Stir in flour in small increments till blended, cook till bubbly.  Gradually whisk in broth, keeping mixture smooth.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Cook for 1 – 2 minutes till thickened.

3)      Stir in remaining ingredients, reduce heat, and LOW simmer for about 20 minutes… do NOT boil, just keep barely simmering.

Home Made Turkey Soup

From this.....

To this!  Yumm!

Made some home made Turkey Soup last night, from broth I made the night before.  The broth was totally killer.  I used a pre packaged Bouquet Garnis from Spice Hunter, but it basically was the spices below.  Very simple, and a great way to take advantage of Thanksgiving leftovers - you can even add some stuffing to the soup to thicken it up!  Freeze in individual portions in zip lock bags

1 leftover Turkey Carcass – picked for usable meat.
10 to 12 cups cold water – enough to cover the carcass 
2 carrots, sliced thick 
1 celery rib, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 tbs celery leaves, rough chopped 
1 large onion, cut into chunks 
2 to 3 cloves garlic, smashed

½ tsp peppercorns

½ tsp thyme

½ tsp kosher salt

½ tsp fresh ground pepper

1 bay leaf

Add all ingredients to a large stock pot, and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a very low simmer, and simmer for 3 hours, occasionally skimming any fat from the surface.  Strain solids out of broth.  At this point, the broth can be made directly into soup,  by adding fresh carrots, celery, onion, the turkey meat and about ½ bag of egg noodles – cook for another half hour or so – or the broth can be refrigerated or frozen.

Sweet Potato and Apple Soup, with Gorgonzola and Toasted Walnuts

Sweet Potato and Apple Soup, with Gorgonzola and Toasted Walnuts

I made this today – from an adapted Real Simple recipe – totally awesome!  The sweet from the apple offsets the stout potatoes, and the Gorgonzola and toasted nuts add just the right amount of salt and savory.  Really a spectacularly easy soup to make, and amazingly good!

Ingredients:

3 tbs light olive oil

1 medium onion, rough chopped

½ tsp kosher salt

½ tsp fresh ground pepper

3 sweet potatoes, cut into ½ inches pieces

2.5 apples, peeled, cored, and diced ( ½ apple reserved for garnish slices)

2 cups vegetable broth

½ tsp ground nutmeg ( to taste)

½ tsp cinnamon ( to taste)

½ cup chopped walnuts, toasted in a sauté pan over  med high heat till dark brown

1/3 cup Gorgonzola cheese for garnish

Directions:

Heat the oil in a 5qt sauce pan or Dutch Oven.  Add salt, pepper and onion, and sauté over med high heat until starting to brown – about 8 minutes

Add potatoes, apples, broth, nutmeg, cinnamon, and 1 ½ cups water.  Stir, and bring to a boil.   Reduce heat, and simmer for about 20 minutes until potatoes are tender.  Using an immersion blender, puree soup until smooth.  You can also run through a blender or food processor in small batches to puree,  but be VERY careful with the lid – hot liquids will expand VERY quickly and make a very painful mess!)

Top with toasted walnuts and Gorgonzola crumbles, and serve.