Turkey Bone Broth ~and~ Turkey Wild Rice Vegetable Soup

EDIT: You know you've got a good, collagen-rich bone broth when you put the pot on the counter to ladle out a bowl and it looks like this.

I scooped out what I wanted and the hole created never filled in. It was SO gelled that a spoon stood up in the center  😊

I don't make turkey bone broth often, so I always forget what deep brown, rich flavor it has! Roasting helps with that of course, but I also roast my chickens, so I'm not sure why the broths are so different.

I really scored here! 😃

$1.61 for two turkey backs, necks and. . .uhhh, well. . .as my mom would say, that little triangular piece 'that jumped over the fence last' :-)

I trimmed off the excess fat then drizzled on some EVOO, seasoned the parts and pieces with Poultry Seasoning and Chicken Seasoning. 

Roast these at 375° - 400° for an hour or so, until everything's nicely browned in a 4-6 quart Dutch oven.

Somehow I wasn't thinking, and roasted everything in this porcelain pan. Not as efficient. I had to use a silicone spatula to scrap all the good brownings back into the big Dutch oven pot.

Remove the meat from the bones, and set that aside. Put everything else back into the pot, with a few bay leaves, and enough water to cover the bones. This only yielded a couple ounces of meat that I'll combine with some roasted chicken.

Simmer this, covered, on a very low bubble for 3-4 hours. After an hour, I added 1/2c white vinegar (or you can use apple cider vinegar) and enough water to bring everything to 1" from the top of the pot.

Stir occasionally and continue to simmer the rest of the time. Cool an hour or so, then scoop out all the bones and everything solid. Throw this away. Strain the broth back and forth into another clean pot, using a finer mesh strainer each time. After 3 or 4 strainings, cover and chill overnight.

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YEA! It's Soup Day!!

Scrape the solidified fat off the top of the gelled broth. What simmered down and concentrated is shown in the Dutch oven on the left. About 2-1/2 quarts of good, rich, brown turkey broth that gelled nicely. Heat it up. To this I added 3 bay leaves and a big spoonful of chicken Better Than Bouillon. 

In a heavy frying pan, melt 2T butter and add the chopped 3 carrots, 2 celery stalks, and 1 onion. Drizzle with some EVOO, then heat everything to a sizzle. Add 2T Kalamata olive EVOO and 2/3c Lundberg Wild Rice Blend. Stir this for several minutes until the bottom of the pan starts to brown and the rice is snapping.

Add just enough chicken stock from a carton to keep it cooking but not getting too brown.

Transfer the rice and vegetables to the pot of broth and add enough stock to bring it to within 1" of the top of the pot.

Add 5 oz. turkey (and roasted chicken) and a big handful of sliced, fresh spinach.

Simmer just long enough until the carrots and celery are done the way you like them, and the rice is cooked. . .Lin