Dana Percy’s Leftover Turkey and Wild Mushroom Soup
CRC Kitchen Manager Dana Percy, left, with kitchen volunteer Mary Ann Carr.
Dana Percy is the miracle-working cook behind many of the Community Resource Centre‘s nutrition-packed meals.
With a monthly budget that most families would spend just feeding themselves, Dana and her crew of volunteers feed hundreds of local Powell River folk soups, stews, hearty breakfasts, and much more.
Want a little Dana magic in your own kitchen this holiday? Try out this leftover-turkey-fixer-upper:
- 1 part diced onion
- 1 part thinly sliced leeks
- 1 part diced celery
- 2 parts diced carrots
Cook until translucent and a little browned.
Meanwhile, create a stock using your turkey carcass. Use all the scraps (peels and such) from celery, carrots, leeks and onions as well as a few cloves of garlic smashed with skin on, any herbs you have on hand as well as a couple bay leaves and a few peppercorns. Cover with water then cook on low for at least 3 hours.
I like to set my stock pot up after turkey dinner in the pot minus the water. In the morning I cover the carcass and veggies with water and put on the stove when I wake up the next day to simmer all day long. The key is to not let it boil away. Also, do not stir your stock while it cooks it makes for a cloudy stock. If you must play with it gently push the vegetables that surface downwards. If you think too much water has evaporated, you may add more water to cover. Once your stock is cooked to your desired doneness you must strain it. I use a 2 part straining process, first I pour through a colander and second I pour through a fine mesh sieve. This ensures the removal of all “impurities”.
Back to the soup, once your onions, celery, leeks and carrots have cooked down now is the time to add your strained turkey stock, a few diced white baby potatoes and cook until the potatoes are soft. (If you have a lot of left over potatoes from your holiday dinner you could use them instead).
At this time you should add some chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, rosemary, thyme, tarragon and sage. Any combination of herbs will work, it all depends on your taste. Now is the time to add your turkey meat also.
Next, sauté some roughly chopped wild mushrooms in butter, my favourites for this type of stew are cauliflower mushrooms and chanterelles. If I am really lazy I don’t even sauté them–regardless, add to your simmering pot.
You may also add your leftover gravy, any roasted vegetables from yams to Brussels sprouts to parsnips and beyond, your left over mashed or roasted potatoes and minimal amounts of stuffing if you want to thicken the soup.
Finally, a childhood favourite of mine is adding frozen peas to nearly everything, they would be spectacular in this case.
At this point you have a very delicious hearty holiday leftover meal. You may taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.
Enjoy!
Psst… Looking for more recipes?
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