Thanksgiving Leftovers

A Recipe for Day After Thanksgiving Soup in Honor of My Late Mother-In-Law, Caroline Putnam

Since this post is coming out the day after Thanksgiving, what better topic than to discuss the concept of Leftovers, in this case Thanksgiving leftovers. My favorite go to recipe for Thanksgiving leftovers is actually inspired by Andy’s mom Caroline Putnam, hence the picture of her in this blog post. Caroline use to always make turkey soup the day after Thanksgiving using the leftovers from the meal before, it was a wonderfully delicious soup as well as very easy to make. I adopted her idea and then added my own twist to it.

So, in honor of Andy’s mom the following is my recipe for The Day After Thanksgiving Turkey Soup.

Ingredients

1 onion

Butter

Leftover Thanksgiving turkey (both white and dark meat)

Leftover stuffing

Leftover vegetables

Leftover mash potatoes

Chicken broth

Kale

Sea Salt

Pepper

Dried sage

(optional – wee bit of cranberry salad)

Dice the onion and sauté it in about a tablespoon of butter. Add whatever vegetables you might have left over from the dinner before, in our house this varies from green bean casserole, to Brussel sprouts au-gratin, or brown sugar glazed carrots. Mix this up and then add the turkey. Next add enough chicken broth to cover what is in the pot and then a little extra to allow for it to boil down a bit.  Season to taste with salt, pepper and dried sage. Let this cook for 20 minutes so the flavors can merge. After 20 minutes add about a ½ to 1 cup of mash potatoes, this acts as a thickening agent. While the soup simmers, cut up the kale (I usually just use one bunch bought from the store). Add the kale and let it cook for another 20 minutes or as long as you like, I’ve had the soup simmer on low for a few hours, checking on the level of broth every now and then and it still tasted wonderful. The Kale is my addition to the recipe as it gives the soup a pop of color while still tasting yummy. 

Depending on your cranberry salad and what is in it, you could add a touch of it to the soup for a pinch of sweet to this otherwise savory soup. My cranberry salad includes cranberries, surgar, orange zest and juice, raisins and apples and it makes for a nice addition to the flavor but I also don’t add it all the time. It is more of an addition when the mood strikes me than a must add ingredient which is why I’ve noted it as optional.

Once all the flavors and blended and the soup is hot, I will pair it with some homemade bread. It is a great day after Thanksgiving dinner and is especially wonderful on a cold November day.

Bon Appetit!