The 2009 Turkey

Here it is, the Monday after Thanksgiving and refrigerators around the country are still packed to the gills with the leftovers from the turkey feast of last week.  We cooked a 14lb bird for 5 adults and 3 children age three and under. I got a little creative with the turkey and used this BBQ rub method I saw used for chicken.  I cut the cayenne  way down, and cooked the turkey in one of the bags.  The seasoning was great and made gravy and broth with the drippings which were a nice change from the normal turkey stock.

Once dinner was done we boiled down the carcass and made turkey stock.  Once the meat and stock were separated out, I had about a gallon of stock and about 10 cups of turkey meat.  I made the following soup with some of the stock and meat.

Turkey Butternut Squash Soup

10 cups Turkey Stock

6 cups chopped Turkey Meat

8 cups peeled, chopped Butternut Squash

3 cups chopped Onion

4 cups chopped Celery

2 cups Pearled Barley

Put all the ingredients in the slow cooker and cook for 3-4 hours on high.

The turkey and the stock had all the flavors from the rub that carried through the soup, so it's hard to say how much of the seasonings in the rub you would need to add to standard stock.

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I sent some leftovers home with my brother's family and we've made quick work of a lot of them in the chaos of this weekend.  I also made this Turkey Cranberry Encore Salad for dinner last night and it was great!  I left out the blue cheese since I'm not a fan, and used pecans instead of walnuts - YUM!

What did you make with your Thanksgiving leftovers?