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12/02/2002 Archived Entry: "Turkey Wild Rice Soup"

It’s four days after Thanksgiving and there’s nothing in the house to eat except that turkey carcass left from the feast. You’ve sliced off meat for sandwiches. You’ve torn it up for mayonaissey salad and oniony hash. The only thing left to do is boil the carcass for a great broth.

Stop! Save the final scraps of meat to garnish this soup.

Turkey-Mushroom Soup
With Wild Rice and White Rice

Serves 6

This soup has a rich, woodsy flavor. (Imagine wild turkeys.) To make it even stronger, add some dried mushrooms – of any kind – and the water used to reconstitute them. Of course, before making a turkey broth, strip off any meat that is still viable. Add it to the soup pot just to heat through and blend briefly with the other flavors. The contrast of textures here is very important, too: melting vegetables, fleshy sliced mushrooms, grainy wild rice, chewy turkey. For filler, it’s good with a big scoop of white rice, too.

1 1/2 pounds mushrooms (divided)
3 tablespoons olive oil or butter
2/3 cup finely chopped carrot
2/3 cup finely chopped onion
2/3 cup finely chopped celery
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup wild rice
5 to 6 cups turkey broth
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 large bay leaf
Leftover pieces of turkey, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 cups cooked white rice
Finely cut or whole leaves of fresh flat-leaf parsley

By hand or in a food processor, chop 1 pound of the mushrooms very fine, stems and all, almost into a paste.

Slice the remaining 1/2 pound of mushrooms right through the stems, about 1/4-inch thick. Reserve. They go into the soup near the end.

In a 5- to 6-quart pot, warm the oil or butter over medium heat and sauté the carrot, onion and celery together until beginning to brown, about 15 minutes.

Add the garlic and sauté another minute.

Add the chopped mushrooms and mix thoroughly. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently.

When the mushrooms exude their liquid, stir in the wild rice, the turkey broth, the pepper, and bay leaf. Cover and, over high heat, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, stir well, cover again, and let soup simmer briskly for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the sliced mushrooms, cover and simmer another 10 minutes.

Add the turkey pieces and let heat through for a minutes. Stir in a few tablespoons of finely cut fresh parsley.

To serve, ladle the soup into wide bowls and spoon or scoop a mound of white rice into the middle. Garnish with finely cut parsley (or whole leaves of parsley). Serve immediately.