Needless to say, instead of making turkey soups the day after Thanksgiving, we spent the day instead processing venison. He skinned it out while I put up some Christmas decorations and made room in the kitchen for our project.
After a light lunch, he brought the sectioned deer into the kitchen and for the next six plus hours, we worked our tails off. I am including pictures of our bounty, and will include turkey soup recipes at the end of the post.
We now have in our freezer several steaks, a huge roast, eight packages of backstrap (tenderloin), twenty-five pounds of ground venison and a few steaks. The rest I canned and we ended up with seven quarts and eight pints of tasty, tender venison to add to our food storage. It is a tedious job to remove as much meat from the bones as possible (we cannot tolerate waste), our backs and feet hurt, but we are satisfied with our accomplishment.
Now for the soup! Remove most of the skin and any stuffing. Include the wing tips (and the wings and part of the thighs if they are not popular at your table). Break the bones apart so that they will fit into a large stockpot. Cover with water, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for about an hour. Remove the bones and any meat, fat or skin and let them cool enough to handle them comfortably.
Strain the stock to remove any small bones or undesirables. You may now use the stock to make soup or store it in the freezer or can it (I pressure can mine).
Pick the meat from the bones. You will be amazed at what a good amount of meat you will get. Set it aside.
Here are my family's favorite turkey soup recipes:
Turkey & Rice Soup
To the strained turkey broth add:
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 T. chicken bouillon or soup base
1 c. of rice (parboiled such as Uncle Ben's works best)
1 can of mushrooms
Cook until the vegetables are tender and the rice is done.
Add the turkey meat (coarsely chopped) and season with salt
and pepper to taste.
Turkey Noodle Soup
To the strained turkey stock add:
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 T. chicken base or bouillon
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 lb. fine egg noodles
Cook until the vegetables are tender and the noodles are done.
Add coarsely chopped turkey meat.
Turkey & Cabbage Soup
To the strained turkey stock add:
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, diced
1/2 head of cabbage, shredded
1 T. chicken base or bouillon
Cook until vegetables are tender.
Add coarsely chopped turkey meat.
Turkey Vegetable Soup
To the strained stock add:
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 cups cabbage, shredded
1 quart tomatoes, diced
1 can (or pint) green beans
1 can whole kernel corn
Any other vegetables you and your family like including okra, broccoli, zucchini, summer squash, cauliflower, asparagus, etc.
1 T. chicken base or bouillon
Salt & pepper to taste.
Cook until vegetables are tender.
Add turkey meat and enjoy.
