You have fresh turkey stock cooling on the counter or already stored in the refrigerator. So what’s for dinner? This post contains four delicious suggestions; these first two are two favorites from the Seasonal Pantry archives. Next are two recipes that were published in the column before 2004, when it began to be archived on line.

Bread Soup with Turkey and Sage With a big green salad alongside, this is a perfect Sunday supper, especially in cold weather.

Turkey Gumbo Serve it with steamed rice, with cole slaw alongside. If you’re feeling energetic, make cornbread, too, and you’ll have a feast to rival the holiday meal.

This soup is as much a holiday ritual to me as Thanksgiving dinner itself. It was the one soup in my mother’s repertoire and she made it twice, and only twice, a year, the day after Thanksgiving and the day after Christmas. I’ve changed it over the years but the aromas and flavors remain eerily evocative of my childhood.

Turkey Barley Soup

Serves 4 to 6

  • 8 to 10 cups turkey stock (recipe follows)
  • 1/2 cup duck fat, turkey fat, olive oil, or butter
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 yellow onions, minced
  • 3 carrots, minced
  • Kosher salt
  • Black pepper in a mill
  • 4 cups left-over turkey meat, coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup pearled barley, soaked for several hours or overnight and drained
  1. First, make the turkey stock, if you have not already done so. (It is best to complete this step a day or two before making the soup.)
  2. Heat the fat, oil, or butter in a large heavy soup pot and set over medium-low heat until the fat begins to smoke. Using a long-handled wooden spoon or metal whisk, stir the flour, about 2 tablespoons at a time, into the hot oil. Whisk or stir constantly until the flour begins to color evenly.  When the flour is medium golden brown, remove it from the heat and stir in the onions and carrots.  Continue to stir for 3 or 4 minutes as the roux cools and ceases to darken. Season with salt and pepper and return to medium heat.
  3. Pour about a cup of stock into the roux and stir with a whisk until the mixture is smooth; add 2 cups and stir again. Add the remaining stock and simmer over low heat for about an hour. Add the turkey meat and barley and simmer until the barley is tender, about 25 minutes. Taste, season with salt and pepper, and serve.
  4. The soup can be cooled, refrigerated, and reheated; it’s flavor will improve for 3 or 4 days.

Risotto is definitely not a dish I enjoyed as a child. I never even heard of it and unless you grew up in an Italian family, it is likely you didn’t either. Now it is everywhere and for a good reason: Risotto is easy to make and delicious, one of the best uses of rice there is.

Turkey Risotto If you have leftover cranberry compote or relish, garnish the risotto with a dollop and serve more alongside.

Serves 3 to 4

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 ounces guanciale, unsliced pancetta, or unsliced bacon, diced
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 1/2 cups Carnaroli rice
  • Kosher salt
  • Black pepper in a mill
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh sage leaves
  • 7 to 8 cups turkey stock, hot
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked dark turkey meat, shredded
  • 3 ounces dry Jack cheese cheese, grated
  • Fresh sage leaves, for garnish
  1. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep saucepan set over medium heat, add the guanciale, pacetta, or bacon and cook until it is tender and translucent. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the meat to a small plate. Add the onion and saute until it is soft and fragrant, about 8 minutes.
  2. Add the rice and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring continuously, until each grain begins to turn milky white.  Season with salt and pepper, add the sage and stir.
  3. Begin to add the stock, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring after each addition until all of the liquid is absorbed.  Continue adding stock and stirring until the rice is just tender but not at all mushy, about 18 to 20 minutes.
  4. Just before making the final addition of stock, stir in the guanciale, turkey meat and cheese, add the remaining stock, taste, and adjust the seasoning. Ladle into warmed soup plates, garnish with fresh sage leaves, and serve immediately.

(Visited 7 times, 1 visits today)