Leftover Turkey

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday which has almost escaped being commercialized and debased. It is a time to give thanks for the blessings in our lives. It is also a time to avoid talking about politics for at least one day.

We started with a 19 pound turkey and ended up with bones and scraps which I took home to disassemble. My wife and I picked bite-size chunks of meat off the carcass filling a large bowl. The leftovers of the leftovers was taken to the compost pile as a gift to the crows (and hopefully ravens) that frequent my yard.

I knew exactly what I was going to do with the turkey pickings. I went to the Google machine and looked for recipes for Instant Pot turkey soup.  We had discovered that some of the meat was under cooked  and I knew that the pressure cooking would solve that problem.

I started with this recipe via Google:

• 2-2 1/2 L turkey broth
• 2-3 cups leftover turkey meat (cut into bite-sized pieces)
• 1/2-1 lb baby potatoes
• 2 large carrots (chopped)
• 2 celery sticks (chopped)
• 1 med-large yellow onion (chopped)
• 1-2 cups dark leafy greens (eg. bok choy, Swiss chard, kale, collard greens, spinach)(chopped)
• salt and pepper to taste

I made several variations:

1. I cut regular potatoes into bite size chunks
2. I added 1 tsp of Thyme and 1/2 tsp of ground up Rosemary leaves
3. I  used chicken stock and brought the level of liquid to the half way point of the pot
4. I added 2 cups of brown rice which thickened up the mixture. It was more stew than soup
5. Soup setting, 10 minutes with natural pressure release