Michael Symon's Delicious Homemade Turkey and Dumpling Soup

Anyone who has heard me talk about cooking lately, knows that I have a huge crush on Michael Symon. Not a crush in the sense of “OMG he is so physically attractive!” Not that he is a bad looking guy, but it's more in the sense of my utmost respect for him. I love his techniques, his recipes. I love just watching him cook! Ok, so I am not entirely thrilled that the show he is currently on replaced one of my beloved soap operas, but if The Chew was on the Food Network at a different day and/or time, then I would still watch it. But it is what it is!

My Mom offered me the frame of our Thanksgiving turkey to make stock out of. A day after offering this, I was watching The Chew and Michael Symon made a Turkey Dumpling Soup. I figured what a great way to use whatever leftover turkey there will be from Thanksgiving! I plan on making this soup again right after New Year's, since I will be making another roast turkey right around then. Although this soup is time consuming, it is delicious, a definite winter staple! We happened to eat all of the initial dumplings as the leftover wore on, which is no problem because the dumplings are so simple to make. I reheated the soup until boiling and then made a fresh batch of dumplings. I ran out of chives, but it was ok because the dumplings still came out great! The next time I make this, I plan on freezing half the batch (without the dumplings) since it did yield a lot of servings. When I eat what I freeze, I will definitely update the blog as to how well it froze. If you don't want to make the soup, you can just follow the directions for the broth. Put it into ice cube trays and freeze, then put into a labeled zip-lock bag. It makes a great base for all other soups!

I'm posting the recipe here, but you can also find it, with feedback at www.thechew.com

Yields 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

For the stock:

• 1 carrot (thickly sliced)
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 1 bay leaf
• turkey frame and wings
• 1 onion (quartered)
• 1 head of garlic (halved crosswise)
• 4 sprigs of thyme
• 1 tablespoon of black peppercorns
• 2 gallons of water

For the dumplings:

• 2 eggs
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup flour
• ¼ cup milk
• ¼ cup chopped chives

For the soup:

• 1 ½ gallons of turkey stock (made from turkey)
• 2 large carrots (diced)
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• roasted turkey meat, pulled from frame and roughly chopped (the recipe calls for 8-10 lbs, but any amount of meat you have leftover will do. Obviously, the more, the meatier.)
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 large onion (diced)
• 1 bunch of celery (diced)
• 1 cup tarragon (chopped)

Directions:

For the stock:

• Combine all stock ingredients in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil , then reduce to a simmer and skim any impurities that rise to the surface. Simmer for 5 hours. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and discard solids.
  
  
  

For the dumplings:

• Make a well in the flour in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. Add the eggs and milk mixture to the well, then add the nutmeg and chives and whisk together until smooth.

For the soup:

• Heat butter over medium heat in a large stockpot. Add the vegetables with a large pinch of salt, and sweat the vegetables until translucent. Add the pulled turkey and stock, cover and bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer for 45 minutes.
  
  
  
• Bring soup to a boil and cut dumplings by placing batter on a damp cutting board and using a bench scraper or knife to cut into bite sized dumplings. (You can also just use two spoons, put them into the boiling soup and scoop the dough with one and scrape with the other into the boiling soup) Drop the dumplings into the boiling soup, and wait for them all to float to the surface. Let boil another minute, add tarragon and serve.  
  
  
  

A thankfully simple Turkey Gravy

So this Thanksgiving was a bit bittersweet for my family. My Gram has been in and out of the hospital since July, so she wasn't able to be with us this Thanksgiving. I usually go over to her house in the morning and help her get the turkey in the oven. It is such a wonderful tradition that we've created, and I really hope that one day it continues with my children and either my Mom or myself. Before I volunteered my services, we used to get both Thanksgiving and Christmas catered. While the catering was good, I missed the home-cooked holiday dinner. So for roughly the past 10 years, a little longer if memory serves correct, I've spent every Thanksgiving morning with my Gram. We would chat and prep the holiday dinner, have a cup of tea and watch part of the parade. This year I still wanted to help out any way I could, so in the morning, I went next door to my Mother's and helped her get the turkey in the oven. This was her first year ever hosting Thanksgiving. Although the company was different, the tradition was still the same. We chatted, and I had a cup of tea.

After the prep work was complete, I went home, got ready and the boys and I went to the other side of the family for brunch. But went back to my Mom's for dinner later on. Of course I asked my Mom if she needed any help when I got there, so I wound up making the Sweet Potatoes on a whim. After my Dad took the turkey out of the oven, the topic of a homemade gravy came up. I said that it was simple and that although I've never made it before, I could certainly try it out. Never be afraid to try to cook something. Especially if you have a backup sitting on the counter next to the stove!

My Dad strained the drippings, skimming all the fat off of it, I think we had about 100 ounces altogether. Just take the drippings a little at a time in a saucepan. Adding a teaspoon at a time of flour, whisking it in until you get your desired thickness. Make sure you whisk out any and all lumps. Since the turkey was seasoned with rosemary and thyme, I added a little of each of these spices into each “batch” of gravy that I made. It came out fantastic! It really was so, so simple! From now on, I will be making my own poultry gravies, and saving a huge amount in the long-run! If you become afraid of cooking, afraid of something being too complicated, or of something not coming out edible (never mind even being good!) you genuinely hinder what capabilities you may have. And please, don't just use this advice in the kitchen!

A Pumpkin-ful Thanksgiving Pie

Last year for Thanksgiving I wanted to make our gracious hosts pumpkin pies. However, I didn't decide this until the last minute and the pies were already bought. So I resorted to making pumpkin bread, which was a huge hit. Then, every time we were invited to a friend's house for dinner, I made a pumpkin pie. I wound up accidentally fusing two different pumpkin pie recipes together, and it came out absolutely fabulous! However, a year has passed, and within that year we moved. So of course I can't find the recipe when Thanksgiving-time arrives! After searching for a different, but similar recipe, I finally settled on this one which is from Libby's®! It came out absolutely amazing! It's not quite the same, but I did use the individual spices instead of last year's pumpkin pie spice. I obviously used my own pumpkin puree instead of the canned stuff! I've never made pumpkin anything with the canned stuff which is probably why I've never come across the recipe before (I hear the recipe is on the back of the can). I also used a prepared graham cracker pie crust. With working 45 hours a week now, and I worked up until the day before Thanksgiving; I didn't have time to make my own pie crust. Next year, I'll plan in advance and make and freeze my own pie crusts. This year we did brunch with one side of the family and dinner with the other, so we brought a homemade pie to each! We also made one for our landlords and kept one for ourselves, which was good because Eoin still absolutely LOVES pumpkin pie!  

 

Yields 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 (9-inch) deep dish pie crust, unbaked (you can use homemade or store bought)
• ¾ cup white sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups of homemade pumpkin puree, or 1 (15-ounce) can of canned pumpkin puree
• 1 (12-ounce) can of evaporated milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425º F.
2. Combine sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in a small bowl. Beat eggs lightly in a large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Pour into pie shell.
3. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350º F and bake for an additional 40-50 minutes. You can tell the pie is cooked all the way through by inserted a knife into the center. If the knife comes out clean, it's done! Cool on a wire rack for 2 hours. You can then serve it or refrigerate it for later use.
   A very important note on this recipe: DO NOT FREEZE! Freezing will cause the filling to separate from the crust.