Ah…Thanksgiving leftovers.  For my family it was always tradition to plan for leftovers.  That was part of the ritual of Thanksgiving.  Everyone would revisit what was in the refrigerator and make up a plate of their favorite dishes.  I especially loved making “Thanksgiving on a bun,” leftover soft rolls with turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet pickle, and olives.

Another tradition is to make soup with the turkey bones.  A nice hardy turkey broth re-enforced with lots of vegetables and noodles to make it a meal.

This year soup was a Turkey Mushroom Chowder.  With a little planning I wanted some of the leftovers to do double duty in this years soup.  Turkey Stock made on Wednesday, Extra Mushroom Cream Sauce used to top the sauteed green beans, and the Roasted Herb Turkey were the stars of the soup.  The other ingredient came from my from my pantry stock.  Onions, Carrots, Celery, Potato, Sweet Corn, Heavy Cream, white wine, a few bay leafs, a touch of thyme, nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste.  All combining together to make a rich, creamy, hearty, and full of flavor soup.

Now I have leftover soup made from my leftovers.  How luck can I be.  The extra soup has being portion out into quart containers and frozen for our enjoyment later this winter.   All I have to do is thaw out the soup in the refrigerator the night before and heat it up the next day.

Feel free to substitute chicken in this recipe is you don’t have any leftover turkey.  Since we’re cooking the recipe is just a guide.   Improvising the ingredients based on what is in your pantry or refrigerator.

Equipment:

• 8 quart Stock Pot
• Cutting Board
• Knife
• Vegetable Peeler
• Heat Resistant Rubber Spatula or Wooden Spoon

Turkey Mushroom Chowder

• 1/2 cup   Butter (unsalted)
• 2 cups    Onions (1/4″ diced)
• 2 cups    Celery (1/4″ diced)
• 1 cup     Carrot (1/4″ diced)
• 8 oz.      Mushrooms (sliced thin)
• 2 cups    Potatoes (peeled, 1/4″ diced)
• 1 cup     Sweet Corn
• 2-3        Bay Leafs
• 1 tsp.     Thyme
• 1/2 tsp.  Nutmeg (ground)
• 2 cups    White Wine
• 2 quarts Turkey Stock (or chicken stock)
• 4 cups    Roasted Turkey (1/2″ cubed)
• 2 cups    Heavy Cream
• 2 Tbsp.   Cornstarch
• 1/2 cup   Italian Parsley (coarse chop)

Directions:

1. Place the stock pot on the stove.  Set the flame to medium and place the butter into the pot to melt.
2. Once the butter has melted add the onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms, potatoes, sweet corn, bay leaf, thyme, and nutmeg to the stock pot.  Saute over medium heat to sweat the vegetables.  Adjust the flame if necessary.  Add 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp. Pepper and stir together.  Cover and let sweat for 10 minutes or until vegetables a just tender.  Stirring twice during this time to make sure vegetables are not browning.
3. Uncover the pot and add the white wine to the vegetables and turn up the heat to medium high.  Letting the white wine reduce for 6 to 8 minutes.
4. Add the turkey stock and bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Add the roasted turkey.
6. Combine the cornstarch with the heavy cream and stir to blend.  Pour the heavy cream mixture into the simmering soup.  Let come back to a light boil while stirring.  Boil for 2 minutes.
7. Taste for salt and pepper and adjust seasoning.  Add the chopped Italian parsley and stir.
8. Serve in big bowls with some crusty bread and a salad.