What to do with the leftover turkey

[shelley]

If you cooked a whole turkey, don't just throw the bones away!!! They'll make a wonderful broth. After you've taken off all you want for leftover turkey sandwiches (one of those times you just have to eat bread), dump the bones in your stock pot along with some carrots, celery, onion, and after the broth tastes decent, discard the veggies, pick the bird over one last time, discard the bones, add back the meat, and add a cup or two of rice. Simmer until the rice gets really soft.

You can cook this soup as a savory congee, which is kept quite simple, rather like traditional chicken soup, or add some Pungent Therapy and make it more like Chinese Turkey Soup:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congee

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/breakfastcongee/r/turkeyjook.htm

[onlyme]

I didn't see this post 'til today, but looks like I pretty much did what you have here to make my turkey soup leftovers!

However, I used quinoa instead of rice (my mom uses orzo pasta). I also added flat leaf parsley. Oh, and fresh sage and rosemary (which, I then fished out after cooking).

I wanted to get every last bit of goodness out of that 40 dollar 14 pound organic, free-range bird!

Oh, I did leave the veggies (carrots, celery, and onions) in the soup after cooking. Probably no nutritional value left, but it gives me something else to chew.