What to do with the leftovers after the holiday? Every Thanksgiving, I have a ritual. When we are cleaning up, I put the carcass of the bird, which usually has lots of leftover dark meat on it, in the crock pot with water, and onion or two and a couple bay leaves. I let it cook on low overnight. When we go to the mall in the morning to take part in the Black Friday sales, I let the crock cool, and when I return, I strain the broth and pick out all the meat. This is a great start to turkey soup. I am quite fond of turkey noodle soup, or turkey soup with lemon and barley, but this year, a fellow MTU parent mentioned that she makes turkey tortilla soup and that sounded like a good idea to me. The recipe she makes had fresh jalapenos in it, and I didn't have any, so I went off on my own to try to invent something. We like our food spicier than the original recipe anyway. Here is what I ended up doing....it came out great!
Chipotle Turkey Tortilla Soup
1 T. olive oil
1 cup diced onions
1 7 oz can chipotle peppers in adobo
2 T. cumin
4 cups diced cooked turkey
4 cups turkey stock (or use chicken stock)
1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 15 oz. can corn, drained
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
juice of one lime
crushed tortilla chips, sour cream, green onions, lime wedges for garnish
In a dutch oven, saute onions until soft. Dice peppers and add them to onions, along with adobo. (you can make this less spicy by adding less peppers). Add cumin and heat through. Add remaining ingredients, except garnish and simmer 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with garnishes.