Turkey Soup Keeps the Cold at Bay

Soup.  I am all about soup these days.  It's easy to make and it fills the house with delicious smells. Making soup is a good way to use up slightly wilted vegetables and leftover grains or noodles. You can throw everything together into a big pot, and leave it to simmer for hours while you make a loaf of bread.  What's better than a bowl of hot soup on a cold day?  I can't think of anything better.

YUMBO TURKEY "GUMBO" -- serves 6

1 package turkey legs (3 in a pack)
1 peeled, sliced red or yellow onion
2 peeled, diced sweet potatoes
3 carrots, cut into chunks
2 tomatoes, diced, or 2 TBSP sundried tomatoes, or 1 can diced tomatoes
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup water or apple juice/cider
1 cup dried apple slices, or 1 apple, peeled and sliced
1-2 TBSP salt and pepper
1 TBSP dried marjoram, thyme and oregano, or 4 sprigs of each herb, fresh

1-2 cups water or vegetable broth
1 handful of frozen peas
1 cup precooked rice, barley or noodles, that have been drained and rinsed 

Optional:  1 TBSP miso paste

Directions:

Plop the turkey legs into a roasting pan, and spread the veggies and apple slices around them.  Sprinkle with the salt, pepper, and herbs.  Pour the water or apple juice into the pan, and bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  

Remove the veggies and apples from the pan with a slotted spoon, and put them in a soup pot.  Dispose of any juices that have accumulated in the pan. 

Pour enough water or vegetable broth over the veggies to cover them, and put the pot on simmer.  

Return the turkey legs to the oven, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes.  Remove the legs from the oven, cut the meat off them and add them to the soup pot with the rice, barley or noodles, and the peas and miso paste, if using.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.

Another way:  My friend taught me this, and it is divine.  Perfect to make on a long, chilly day when all ya wanna do is putter around the kitchen.

Simmer a turkey carcass (leftover from a holiday dinner) in 3 bottles of beer (cheap is fine) and a cup of water, with 2 stalks of mashed, fresh lemongrass  stalks, some oregano and parsley, and salt and pepper for 4 hours.  Stir every now and then.  Add a bag of frozen mixed vegetables and cook for another 15 minutes.  Oh, it's SO good!