MONDAY RECIPE POST - LEFTOVER TURKEY NOODLE SOUP

Hi everyone, for those of us who were celebrating Thanksgiving, I hope you all had a wonderful time with your families.

You will see by the original recipe here that I made mine using our turkey leftovers from Thanksgiving, and not the chicken thighs called for in the recipe.  I have left the original ingredients in the recipe below, but as I had leftover turkey to be used up, I exchanged the chicken for the turkey, and I had all the vegetables needed. 

Total time: 

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time:      45 minutes + standing 
10 servings (about 3-1/2 quarts)

2-1/2 lbs. bone-in chicken thighs 
1-1/4  teaspoons pepper, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
10 cups chicken broth
4 celery ribs, chopped
4 medium carrots, chopped
2 bay leaves 
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried  
3 cups uncooked kulsi or other egg noodles (I used 2 cups shell macaroni)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon lemon juice

If using the original recipe (see note below), pat chicken dry with paper towels; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon pepper and salt.  In a 6-qt stockpot, heat oil over medium-heat.  Add chicken in batches, skin side down; cook until dark golden brown, 3-4 minutes.  Remove chicken from pan; remove and discard skin.  Discard drippings, reserving 2 tablespoons.

Add onion to drippings; cook and stir over medium-high heat until tender, 4-5 minutes.  Add broth, stirring to loosen browned bits form pan.  Bring to a boil.  Return chicken to pan.  Add celery, carrots, bay leaves and thyme.  Reduce heat; simmer, covered, until chicken is tender, 25 to 30 minutes.

Transfer chicken to a plate.  Remove soup from heat.  Add noodles; let stand, covered, until noodles are tender, 20-22 minutes.  

Meanwhile, when chicken is cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones; discard bones.  Shred meat into bit-sized pieces.  Return meat to stockpot.  Stir in pieces.  Stir in parsley and lemon juice.  Adjust seasoning with salt and remaining 3/4 teaspoon pepper.  Discard bay leaves.  

Kitchen tips: You can save your chicken bones and vegetable scraps to make broth for your next soup.  Find out how right here.  

We tweaked this recipe by using 2 lbs. of cooked, leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, which we cut into small, bite-sized pieces, adjusting the recipe accordingly, and continued the recipe starting at the second paragraph above.  I hope I have explained this and it isn't too confusing.We added the leftover turkey to the broth the last 15 minutes of cooking time just to heat through.

For the pasta we used the shell type, but most any pasta will do.  We cooked the pasta separately according to the package directions, and added it to the broth to heat through before serving. 

Instead of using the 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, I placed a slice of lemon on top of the soup for serving, along with a slice of baguette.  The lemon slice added a nice flavor and was not overpowering.  Of course if you like, you can add the lemon juice and the lemon slice.

Hopefully there are no typo's in this recipe because I rushed it through to get it done for Monday.  I will correct later if I have to.

I am adding the recipe for the turkey breast below, which we liked very much, and I want it handy for next year.  It is from Martha Stewart which I found here.  There were only five of us but I was still running behind on my cooking schedule, and looking for something simple.  How lovely to have help. My daughter-in-law brought a delicious sweet potato casserole, and our good friend brought an equally delicious riced-cauliflower dish, along with a cranberry salad, and a pumpkin pie for dessert.  There were also had a few other side dishes.  It was a wonderful day but now to the turkey breast recipe.

Oven-Roasted Turkey Breast

Note from off the site.  "Make sure you use a bone-in turkey breast for this recipe - it is the key to moist, juicy meat."

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
5 pound turkey breast (bone-in), rinsed and well dried
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 

Preheat oven to 35 degrees Fahrenheit.  Fit a small roasting pan with a V-shaped rack.  Drizzle oil over turkey breast, and season with salt and pepper.  Center turkey breast on rack.  Transfer to oven, and roast until juices run clear and an instant-read thermometer reads 165 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the breast (my bird had one of those pop-up meat thermometers).  This takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes but as I have mentioned before in other recipes, everyone's oven may be different in heat, so check with that thermometer.   When cooked transfer to a platter and let rest for ten minutes before carving.

If you have enough pan drippings, make gravy.

Remove the rack and place roasting pan directly over a burner set on high heat.  Add 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour to pan, and whisk for two minutes, scraping up the pan drippings and incorportating all of the pan juices into the flour.  Add 1/2 cup water and continue whisking until a smooth gravy forms, about 2 minutes.  Transfer to a gravy boat and serve with turkey. 

Thanks for visiting and I wish you all a great week.