Thanksgiving starts the party season and you should always be ready for company.  Hopefully you made the best of your Thanksgiving turkey and made some turkey stock.  You can freeze turkey stock and use in a variety of recipes in place of chicken stock for months to come and use this recipe for a party.  And if you find this recipe during any other season, you don’t have to use turkey — some nice organic chicken from Browders Birds, www.browdersbirds.com will be just as good. 

Self-service is best for parties so make sure you have plenty of ice in a nice large tabletop container.  For this Mexican-themed dinner your bar may consist of a few bottles of ’Taste’, a fruity white blend by Bedell Cellars, www.bedellcellars.com (Chardonnay, Sauv Blanc, Viognier and Gewurztraminer) to stand up to the turkey and the spice in the soup and appetizers, a few Growlers of  Greenport Harbor Ale, www.harborbrewing.com  along with a bottle of Patron Tequila Reposado, www.patronspririts.com

Set up your appetizers self service at a table nearby with assorted cheeses like Monterrey Jack or Manchego or smoked meats and sausages like chorizo, assorted tortilla chips and a variety of dips (ranch dip, black bean and corn salad, see our post ….. and a variety of salsas-green salsa, Chipotle, etc).

The base of this dinner is a great soup which is one of my favorite recipes for turkey leftovers made with spicy turkey stock  for a “Sopa de tortilla” served for lunch or a light dinner with cocktails.  I like to add Poblano peppers to the stock of carrots, celery and fresh cilantro.  The turkey meat absorbs the spice of the peppers and becomes a rich broth that doesn’t need much else.  The crunch of the tortilla chips and the creamy chunks of avocado transport you elsewhere; far from the remnants of your Thanksgiving turkey.

Recipe

Sopa de tortilla
Made with fresh Turkey breast (organic chicken is fine substitution, also Empire has a great frozen turkey breast you can find frozen year-round)

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Onion, peeled and quartered
2 cloves of garlic peeled
4 stalks of celery
1 bunch of cilantro
1 Poblano pepper
4 Carrots
The peels of two carrots- reserve the carrots for the soup
1 whole Turkey breast
1 8oz. can of organic stewed tomatoes
¼ cup of olive oil
Pinch of cumin
1 cup of fried corn tortillas
1 Avocado

Stock Instructions
1. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil in bottom of large stock pot.
2. Add quartered onion, 2 cloves of garlic and 2 stalks of celery, and turkey breast.
3. Peel two carrots and add the peels to the stock pot along with 2 carrots and 2 celery stalks. Reserve two carrots and 2 celery stalks for later use.
4. Cut the stems off your Cilantro bunch. Reserve the leaves. Add stems to the stock pot
5. Add water to your pot so that it is 3/4 full.
6. Cover and boil for at least 1 hour, preferably 2 hours. You should set a timer to check on your stock. Do not add salt before you have reduced your stock. The stock should not reduce to less than one quarter of your pot
7. Remove turkey from bone. Reserve the meat. Discard the bone
8. Strain the soup by using a colander over another stock pot
9. Discard the vegetables
10. Set aside the stock you will use for the soup (1 to 2 cups per guest) and pour the rest into ice cubes for later use.

Soup
1. In blender add 1 8oz. can of organic stewed tomatoes and ¼ cup of olive oil, pinch of salt and puree with roasted pepper* and set aside for later use.
2. Add 2 carrots cubed to stock
3. Add 2 celery stalks chopped to stock
4. Cover and boil for 30 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
5. Add 1/4cup increments pureed pepper-tomato mixture to your broth.
6. Add 1/3 cup of turkey meat per cup of stock and allow simmering.
7. Taste for salt and finish with a pinch of ground cumin

Serving
Ladle soup into bowls and add extra turkey meat, top with strips of fried corn tortillas or good quality store bought tortilla chips. Top with fresh cilantro and cubes of avocado.

Roast 1 Poblano pepper stove top or in your oven until charred and tender. Peel and de vein the Poblano peppers*