Turkey Bone Soup ... aka Left Over Thanksgiving Turkey Soup

This recipe is very much made by feel and by what you have on hand: "give it a shot with what you got."

I used two full turkey drum sticks that were frozen and leftover from Thanksgiving. I would like to try this with the main carcass of the turkey too. There is a lot of flavor in the bones and they are important to this recipe for both flavor and texture. Put what ever bones and meat still attached to the bones into a pot with cold water. Only fill the pot about half full with water. Slowly bring this up to boil. An electric crock pot set to low is perfect. Boil for a couple hours with a lid on the pot so the water does not boil away. Pull out the bones and let them cool. Remove any chunks from the pot.

To the "turkey water", add thickly sliced carrots, diced onions and a diced small bell pepper, ground black pepper, a bit of Thyme, Sage, a couple Bay leaves and crush about four sprigs of some Rosemary in your hand before adding. Also add a couple small hand fulls of long grain brown rice. Boil away until carrots and rice are nearly done. Check once in a while and add water as needed.

While the pot is boiling and once the bones are cool pull any meat left off the bones and toss the bones, cartiledge and any things else you dont want to eat. Break up any big chunks of meat. Keep the meat in a bowl or something to add later.

When the carrots and rice are almost done pull out the bay leaves. Now is the time to add noddles and more water if needed. I added little alphabet noodles for my kids. They liked that and I thought they were nice. I also like "old fashioned" or egg noodles. Each has an advantage.

When the noodles are done, put the meat back in the pot. Open a can of cooked white beans and add that juice and all. Add a large handfull or two of frozen corn. Fresh or frozen peas or green beans work well too. Mix well, heat through and add salt. Depending on how you cooked the turkey you may or may not need to add salt at this point. Taste first. I always like more black pepper but alas my wife and kids do not so I make sure the grinder is next to my bowl when I sit to eat.

Enjoy!