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.