Turkey Bathwater

Turkey Bathwater

This is the name my dear husband has given to the beginnings of soup. I’ll admit it looks pretty bad. In fact, bathwater is a polite name for the various bones and feet sticking out of the roiling mass that later becomes soup.

But if I do say so myself, the end result is delicious. Which is good, because we’re looking down the barrels of four days of snow, with a total accumulation of 28 inches.

Normally this sort of weather prediction would be my cue to bake, make killer peanut brittle and spiced popcorn. But I am trying to avoid sugar, so it’s soup, she sighed.

As we work our way through chicken and turkey, I save the bones, as well as leek tops (washed carefully), celery hearts and mushroom stems in a bag in the freezer. When the bag gets really bulbous, it’s time to make soup.

Poultry stock

bones--usually I get a mass the size of a soccer ball

one onion, peeled

hearts of celery and trimmings

leek ends

mushroom stalks

Put all these in a stock pot with a couple bay leaves. Cover with water, boil for about an hour. Taste, add salt and pepper to taste. Strain and store. Should make about 2 quarts.

I freeze in pint containers.

Then you can make

Hot and Sour Mushroom and Kale Soup

1 onion

2 C sliced mushrooms

2+ C stock

4 C kale chopped into 1 inch dice (this sounds fussy, but it’s to prevent diping your spoon into the mix and pulling up what looks like seaweed)

1+ t Tom Yum paste, available in Southeast Asian markets

Chop and saute one onion in a splash of olive oil; add 2 cups sliced mushrooms, saute together until they are soft but not browned. Add 2 cups of stock, simmer. Add kale, continue to simmer. Add more water to submerge kale if necessary. When the kale has wilted, add a generous teaspoon Tom Yum paste. Stir in Simmer another 5-10 minutes. Taste.

I have in the past added a teaspoon of honey to make the soup hot, sweet and sour, but it’s plenty wonderful without the sweet element. Enjoy.

This will fuel the numerous snow shoveling expeditions we all face. If I cave on this diet, maybe I’ll post a recipe for something more decadent later.