Saturday: Turkey Soup with Mom's Tea Biscuits

I make turkey soup almost weekly, mostly because it is the best way I know of to get veggies into my 4-year-old. He'll eat ANYthing in soup, and so he does. These are my mom's tea biscuits - it's still Fambly Week! They've been updated by her into a healthy version ( I just added salt - you need it Mom, I'm telling you!), enjoy!

You will need:

For the stock:
1 bunch of bones - I am using half of the bones of a 25-lb turkey and some raw chicken bones
Leftover onion tops, celery tops, carrot peels, whatever you have in the freezer
2 bay leaves
Ground sage, dried rosemary, dried thyme, cracked black pepper

This is what I use for stock: I save up the tops of my onions, celery and carrot cuttings and throw them in the freezer. I buy bone-on chicken and save the raw bones (the gelatin gives body and helps to thicken). When I've got enough, I rinse it and put it into the largest stockpot I own.

This sort of thing

 I have it on very good authority (thanks, C!)  that you can also use the leek tops (the dark green bit that you can't use otherwise) but I haven't tried that yet. But I will!

And more - including raw chicken bones

 Put it into your largest stock pot and cover with as much water as possible, but leave a couple of inches at top for bubbling and foam.

Boil, partially covered, for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, skimming any foam that comes to the top. I've heard that is just how the blood shows up, from the raw bones, but I don't know for sure. It should be reduced by about a third or so.

After three hours, strain your stock and set it aside to cool. There are two easier ways I know how to do this, one is to put it on your garage floor. The other depends on your sink; if it is wide and deep, this will work. Put the stopper in your sink, place a small baking rack, folded down, on top of it. Fill the sink with cold water and ice, if you have it, place the pot of hot stock on top of the baking rack. Add ice as needed to the water.

When it is cool, scrape off any fat off the top. You know, do your best, don't obsess.


Now, the soup!

You will need:

1 tsp vegetable oil
3 onions, fine dice
3 carrots, fine dice
3 celery stalks, fine dice
Broccoli stalk, fine dice
5 cloves garlic
3 bay leaves
Sage, dried rosemary, dried thyme, salt, pepper
1 1/2 c brown rice
2 c whole wheat pasta of your choice
6-8 cups turkey (whatever is left from the carcass), chopped into bite-sized chunks
1 c egg noodles
2 c broccoli and cauliflower florets

Soooo, prep! Lots of it, and it's all listed up there. I stick to vegetables I know the kids will eat in soup, but corn, zucchini, pretty much anything out there is going to taste yummy in this. Just add them in at the end.

Heat the oil in your biggest stockpot, add in the onions, carrots and celery. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5-7 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for just one more minute. Just ONE!

Pour in the stock, add in the sage, thyme, rosemary, pepper and bay leaves. Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer until it is reduced by a quarter.

Add the rice, boil at low temp for half an hour, then add in the pasta and turkey. You can also add in any gravy you have left over, it adds a punch of flavour, as do any leftover mashed potatoes you may have around. Both of those are good for thickening. After another 15 minutes, add in the broccoli, cauliflower and egg noodles and taste it. Add salt. Then some more, come on, just a little more, it's a big pot! Add thyme, sage and pepper as necessary. Let simmer for another 15 minutes, when all the veggies are softened, it is ready!

And on to the biscuits!

You will need:

1 1/2 c whole grain whole wheat flour
1/2 c all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/3 c brown sugar
1/4 c butter, cold
2/3 c milk

 This is actually a sweeter-tasting biscuit than I remember, and I had to fight myself (spoiler alert: I won!) to not change everything back to my own recipe, but I like the way it turned out. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

Same biscuit plan as usual, mix all dry together in a large, wide bowl.

Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or two knives, until it looks like small crumbs.

Add in the milk, mix together quickly just until formed.

Turn out on a floured counter and pat it into a flat disc. Cut out circles with a glass or cookie cutter (I usually do dinosaurs but the boys were just not.deserving.it tonight). Place them on a baking sheet sprayed with oil and bake for 10-13 minutes. Check around 10, then every minute after. You don't want them too dark on the bottom.  I wouldn't recommend using parchment paper, as I've yet to find one that is rated for up to 450 degrees.

 

 

I like to put mine immediately into a bowl and cover with a large tea towel. 

 



But here they are nekkid:

And here is the whole meal!

The soup was too difficult to work out calorie-wise, but I have done so before and ended up just under 100 calories for a cup, which is pretty good. The biscuits end up being 140 calories each, but I didn't use any butter with them, just dipped them into the soup.

Enjoy! Thanks for the biscuit recipe, Mom!