Turkey Vegetable Soup

I've never done this before; traditionally we make Tetrazzini with our leftover turkey but this turned out delicious and made just over 3 quarts of soup - enough to have now for a few meals and also to freeze for a meal later. 

In a very large pot, over medium heat, add 2 TBL Olive Oil and sweat 1 Medium Sliced Onion and 2 Stalks of Celery, rinsed with the ends cut off and cut into 1" lengths.  Break or cut Turkey Carcass (hopefully with some meat left on it) into 3 or 4 peices.  Add the pieces to the pot.  Add Approximately 3 Quarts Chicken Broth until covered.  I topped with water so I didn't have to open another quart of broth.  Simmer with the lid off for around 35-45 minutes.  Strain the broth into a smaller pot.  Let the turkey cool so you can handle it and remove all the turkey from the bones and place in the broth.  Disgard everything else.  

You can freeze some or all at this point and you will finish it when you are ready to eat.  It was cold out, so placed my pot on my porch in order to cool quickly and to remove some of the fat, then froze some of the soup for a later meal. 

If having now (and when you thaw to use), simmer pot of Broth and Turkey.  Add 3/4 Cup Basmati Rice for 2 quarts of soup and let it cook in the broth til almost done.  In the meantime, rinse, remove ends and cut 1/2 lb Fresh Green Beans into 1" lengths and add these to the pot.   Peel and cut 2 Large Carrots to a 1/4" dice and add these to the pot.  Add 1 Cup of Frozen Peas to the pot.  Season with Salt and Pepper.  Really you can add what you want in the quantities you prefer.  

Once the vegetables are done serve with a Salad and Warm Crusty Bread or a Grilled Cheese Sandwich.  

Skinny Cado

If you like avacado, you may want to switch from the smaller nubby Haas variety to the larger and slightly more expensive Florida Avacado.  It turns out, the Florida Avacdo has 1/3 less fat for the same size portion.  I feel it has a slightly milder flavor.   They are larger than the Haas Avacado, so you get more to work with, per piece of fruit.

I love to serve sliced Avacado when we have fajita night or if I am serving a dinner salad as a meal.  Also, when ripe, it is slightly firm so it holds up well.  I normally slice out exactly the wedges I plan to eat, leaving the seed in place to keep the fruit from oxidizing.  If you are serving it on a buffet, you can squeeze and lightly toss with either lemon or lime juice, to keep the color bright.  For storage, when I have only used a few wedges, I wrap it with plastic wrap, making sure the wrap touches the flesh to reduce or slow oxidation.  I try to eat it within a the first few days of opening it. 

I find that eating Avacado (in moderation) when serving lighter fare, keeps me from returning to the kitchen a few hours later.  The fat is considered a healthy variety because it is monosaturated, similar to why Olive Oil is considered a good choice over vegetable oil.

Pictured, I ate these 4 slices on a Oven Roasted Turkey sandwich on Wheat Bread.  I used about 1 tsp of Mayonnaise and a small sprinkle of Kosher Salt directly on the Avacado.  It was delicious!!

Roasting Turkey 911

Did you ever take for granted your elder's ability to roast a turkey that is always perfect?  Then, the rude awakening, you find yourself on your own for the first time and realize you have no clue how to do it?

Get a good sturdy roasting pan.  Mine has a rack and it reduces the cooking time because it allows heat to move around the bird.  Decide if you are going to stuff it or not and if so, what will you stuff it with.
Make sure you buy either a fresh bird (it's never been frozen) or allow for ample thawing time.  These things are frozen solid and require 3 days in a refrigerator to thaw.  If you try to cook a frozen turkey I can guarantee it will be raw in the middle and the parts that are cooked will be dry.  Remember when you remove the packaging to rinse the turkey inside and out and to remove all the things inside.  There is normally a neck stuffed in the main cavity and there is a cavity in between the wings and it contains the plastic bag with the giblets.
Determine, who is going to carve it, on what and with what, make certain the knife is sharp.
Work out a time table.  First, determine what time you want to eat.  Back out 20-30 minutes for carving and another 30 minutes allowing for the bird to rest.  In essence, it needs to come out about 50 minutes - 1 hour before you want to eat.
Stuffed and roasted on a rack, a turkey cooks for 18 minutes a pound.  Stuffed without a rack, 20 minutes a pound.  I tend to round down the pounds before calculating because over cooked turkey is dry and as a leftover it's not that great.  A perfectly cooked turkey on the other hand is delicious during the feast and for all the leftovers.

Once you are ready to cook the bird, Preheat oven to 325.  While the oven is heating, butter the outside of the bird without double dipping anything that touches the bird to retouch the butter.  Don't be too particular about spreading the butter, in the end it melts and it's used for basting.  Salt and Pepper the outside on of the bird.  I found Dried Sage this year and sprinkled a light amount on the outside.

With 2 hours left to cook, add 2 Medium Onions cut into Quarters to the roasting pan.  You can separate each quarter into 2 pieces, but don't separate all the layers or they will burn.  With 30 minutes to go Add the Giblets to the roasting pan for the giblet lovers.  Giblets don't agree with me, so I remove them from the pan before making gravy.

Pictured 1 1/2 hours into it.  Baste every 45 minutes or so.  As the skin darkens, loosely tent a piece of foil covering the skin to prevent further browning.  This may have to be done after about 1 1/2 - 2 hours of roasting.

I will continue to add notes on cooking times.  It is very important to record what you did and how it turned out so adjustments can be made for next time.

For today my plan is to roast a 14.85 pound turkey, stuffed and on a rack for 4 hour, 12 minutes.  Perfecto!!  That cooking time was just perfect.  17 pound turkey, stuffed and roasted on rack,  roasted for 4 hrs 45 min, rested for 40 minutes, perfect!
Serve with all of your family favorites!