Turkey Bone Broth -- Turkey-Chicken Vegetable Soup

This is a labor-intensive two day process. Does it make great broth?  Does it make great soup? Yes. Is it worth all the time and effort? I'm not sure. When I'm feeling like I need a couple days of Kitchen Therapy and doing nice quiet 'house-things' I'll for sure opt for this method every time. A good slow method like this, to me, is reminiscent of a slower time where homemakers use what they had and resorted to drawing flavors from simple healthier ingredients without using as many additives or flavor enhancers. However, I've had great results with excellent tasting beef, chicken or turkey vegetable soups (with or without rice, pasta or potatoes) using just water, seasonings and a good soup base. So if you're up for a challenge and don't need Immediate Soup Gratification - well - give it a go to see what you think!

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BONE BROTH - DAY 1

2½# turkey backs
and neck

assorted vegetable scraps as shown

FRY THE CHICKEN - DAY 1

After washing the breasts, cut them into thirds or smaller. I had more chicken than I needed for this, so I froze half, about 1½#, shown in the first picture, for another recipe. Pat them dry with a paper towel then toss them around in a bowl of seasoned cornflour or VERY fine cornmeal. To my cornflour, I stirred in salt, pepper and more of the Old Bay Garlic and Herb seasoning. Heat up about an inch of your favorite oil or solid shortening, in an 8 quart stock pot, then put in the floured pieces. They should sizzle if the temperature is hot enough. I used avocado oil and coconut oil.

Once the chicken is brown on both sides, put it on paper towels or a brown paper bag to soak up the excess fat. Transfer these to a parchment lined jelly roll pan and bake at 375 for about 30 minutes. Turn off oven and let cool there. Later, refrigerate the crispy chicken to add to the soup tomorrow.

Put the turkey parts and vegetables, except the garlic, into the pot you used to fry the chicken. Cover with 4-6 quarts fresh cold water. Add 1-2t whole peppercorns, 1T Old Bay Garlic and Herb seasoning. Bring this to a low boil, then turn down the heat.  Cover and check to be sure it's still bubbling occasionally. If you have a candy or meat thermometer, 180⁰ is the heat you want. Simmer this way for 12 hours. Start this after supper. Simmer covered, overnight, and it'll be ready by morning. If possible, the garlic should go in for the last 3 hours.  

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DAY 2 - FINISHING THE BROTH - CREATING THE SOUP

After breakfast, using a very big slotted spoon, pull ALL the solids out. Give the carrots, celery and peppers to your dogs or rabbits.  Remove the garlic and set that aside for later in the day. Do NOT give that to your dogs. Remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin, add the bones back to the pot. Put the meat in a container and refrigerate until tomorrow. Chill the soup as quickly as possible.

Once it's well chilled, if you used a solid shortening, that will solidify on the top. Scrape it off, give a little at each feeding to your dog, or throw it away. If you used oil, you'll have to spoon as much as possible off the top, then strain everything through progressively smaller colanders, strainers and finally some cheesecloth. An old, clean dishtowel will do quite well and should remove all the particles and any leftover fat. Set this aside. 

Chop the vegetables shown, using the colorful hard ones now - the big purple shallot, carrots, celery, red and yellow peppers, green and purple cabbage. Add these to the pot with 1-2T of solid coconut oil and a cup of the bone broth. I only used about 3-4 quarts of the broth in the soup. The rest, in the glass container is in the fridge. It's a great thing to drink, warmed up. Lots of good things for your body! Put the green onions and tops, spinach, and celery tops aside for now. Simmer the vegetables over low heat, bubbling only occasionally for about 40 minutes, adding broth a few cups every 5 minutes or so until it's all in the pot.

For the last half hour, squeeze out however many garlic cloves you'd like in your finished soup. Slice or smash them and add them to the pot with the sliced lemon, chopped chicken and soft greens. If there are extras, they'd be good spread on toast with avocado and a little flaked salt, or mixed with sauces. Simmer 30 minutes and serve. It's finally soup! . .Lin