Two-Fer Turkey

The weather today is going to be in the 70’s and gorgeous. Tomorrow is only going to be in the 30’s for the HIGH. So I am going to make turkey two ways.

First, I took the meat off the bone according to this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd1rM3CsoN0&t=670s&ab_channel=Tasty

For today’s dinner, I am going to barbeque most of the turkey. I dried all the pieces with paper towels and laid them on a rack in a baking tray. I used this rub on it:

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup smoked paprika

4 tbsp smoked coarse salt

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Combine thoroughly with a fork and store in a tightly sealed jar.

I put it in the refrigerator for about 18 hours to let the skin dry out and for the meat to absorb the flavors.

I am going to smoke it on our Big Green Egg at about 375 degrees until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. We are going to have it on sandwiches with tart apples and a sauce made with equal parts of mayonnaise and bbq sauce. My husband will probably put cheese on his too.

With the carcass that was left, I following the directions for making turkey stock from the video above. Once it is cooked I will remove the meat from the bones and set it aside and strain the broth for a Turkey and Wild Rice Soup.

I strained the solids from the broth into a colander set over a large bowl that I placed in the sink to minimize the mess.

I put the stock in a large commercial food storage container. (I have several sizes of this Rubbermaid food service container and they are so handy and the lids are interchangeable.) I set the turkey pieces on a tray to cool so that I can pull the meat off the bones.

Now we have our homemade components together so we can now move on to making the soup. This soup is SO easy.

Turkey Stock

Long Grain and Wild Rice Mix–Classic flavor

Cream of Chicken soup

Frozen Mixed Vegetables

Reserved turkey

It really depends on how much stock you have and how many people you need to feed. My proportions are 8 cups stock; 2 cans soup; 1 box rice mix; and 1 lb. frozen mixed vegetables. You can play around with it until you get it the way that you like it. You need to get the stock to a boil and add the soup and vegetables and let that simmer for about 10 minutes and then add your rice mix and turkey and cook according to instructions on the box.

This soup with some crusty bread is great for a cold and blustery day.

Enjoy!