Thanksgiving starts the holiday party season, and visits with friends and loved ones are best when great food is involved. Hopefully you made the best of your Thanksgiving turkey by making stock, which is the base for this “sopa de Tortilla” recipe that was featured in Saveur Magazine a few years ago.
This soup can be a meal for your family or a group of friends when you include some additional nibbles of assorted cheeses like Monterrey Jack or Manchego, or smoked meats and sausages like chorizo. Tortilla chips and a variety of dips, like ranch dip, black bean and corn salad, or a selection of salsas are also essential.
Having the stock already made is most of the work, and with some carrots, celery, Poblano peppers, and fresh cilantro, you can call it dinner. The turkey meat absorbs the spice of the peppers and becomes a rich broth that really 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 meal.
Ingredients:
1 onion, peeled and quartered
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
4 stalks of celery
1 bunch of cilantro
1 Poblano pepper, fire-roasted, peeled, and de-veined
4 carrots, peeled and chopped (reserve peels for stock)
2 cups turkey meat, shredded or chopped
1 8oz. can of organic stewed tomatoes
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Pinch of cumin
1 cup of fried corn tortillas
1 avocado
If you did not make turkey stock, don’t fret. You can make a court bouillon with turkey meat, preferably on the bone–just add vegetables and strain.
For the stock:
1. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of large stock pot.
2. Add quartered onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 stalks of celery, and the turkey.
3. Peel 2 carrots and add the peels to the stock pot, along with 2 carrots and 2 celery stalks. Reserve 2 carrots and 2 celery stalks for later use.
4. Cut the stems off your cilantro bunch and toss them in the stock. Reserve the leaves for garnish.
5. Add water to your pot so that it is 3/4 full.
6. Cover and boil for an hour or so. 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 and discard the bones.
8. Strain the soup, 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.
For the soup:
1. In blender, add 1 8oz. can of organic stewed tomatoes, ¼ cup of olive oil, and a pinch of salt, and puree with roasted pepper* and set aside for later use. *You may want to only use part of the pepper and see if it is sufficiently spicy. Add the remainder if you like it spicy.
2. Add 2 cubed carrots to stock.
3. Add 2 chopped celery stalks to stock.
4. Cover and boil for 20 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
5. Add pureed pepper-tomato mixture to your broth in 1/4 cup increments.
6. Add 1/3 cup of turkey meat per cup of stock and allow to simmer.
7. Taste for salt and finish with a pinch of ground cumin.
To serve, ladle soup into bowls and add extra turkey meat, and top with strips of fried corn tortillas or good quality store bought tortilla chips. Top with fresh cilantro and cubes of avocado.
