What to do with a left-over turkey carcass has never been a problem in our house! I always try to leave a good bit of turkey on the bones when I am carving a turkey for our Thanksgiving or Christmas feast. I then wrap it well and put it in the freezer until we feel the need for some homemade turkey soup! The cold temperatures this week called for some of that soup along with cheesy biscuits. I modified a biscuit recipe I found in our church cookbook to make the jumbo biscuits, but the soup recipe just fabricated itself in my brain! My amounts are not accurate at all…just a bit of this or a dash of that. If you are an experienced cook, you understand! If you are not, that’s ok, too. I will do my best to give you fair amounts! First, those biscuits!
3 c. flour
2 tbsp sugar
1-1/2 tbsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. cream of tartar
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. shortening
1 c. buttermilk
1 c. grated cheddar cheese
1/2 stick butter, melted
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt, mixing well. Cut in shortening with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Pour buttermilk into flour mixture, stirring until flour mixture is just moistened. Stir in grated cheese. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead just 4-5 times. This is just to help the dough hold together, so don’t be rough with it! Press dough into rectangle about 3/4 inch thick. Using a 3-1/2 to 4-inch diameter glass, cut out biscuits. This size glass makes about 11-12 biscuits. Place biscuits close together on an ungreased baking sheet.
Brush with melted butter.Bake at 450 degrees for 12 minutes. Remove from oven and brush with remaining melted butter. Bake for 3-5 minutes more until golden brown.
For the turkey soup, fill a large stock pot about half full of water. Add the frozen carcass and put on the stove to simmer. Let simmer until thawed and the meat falls easily off the bones. Remove carcass from pot and pull all the meat off. Add the following to the water in the pot.
1 can white kidney beans, drained
1 pack onion soup mix (can also use 1 chopped onion)
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and diced
1 can chicken broth
1 quart more water
about 1-2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. sage
Stir and let simmer until vegetables are tender. Cut meat into bite-sized pieces and add to pot. Taste and add more seasonings as desired. Serve with jumbo cheese biscuits for a tasty lunch! My family often likes soups served with croutons or crushed seasoned bagel chips.
The Cookbook Experiment 