Nanie’s Turkey Soup

After all (or most) the meat is cut off the turkey bones, put them in a stock pot. (I use the skin too.) Cover with water. Add onion, celery and carrots. (I put in half of the veggies now and add the rest later.)

Turn the heat on high and let it boil for about 2 hours, or until the remaining scraps of meat are falling off the bones. Remove from heat, let cool for a bit.

Use a strainer or cheesecloth to remove all the meat and vegetables from the broth. Set broth aside. Sift through the turkey bones and take out all the use-able meat. Discard the bones. I usually have a lot of meat that I can pull off the bones. (See notes below for more details.)

Put the meat back in broth. Add the rest of the uncooked vegetables and the rice. Season to taste. Bring back to a boil. Cook until vegetables are soft and rice is cooked, usually about 1 hour. Turn off the heat, let cool and enjoy.

NOTES:

1-Straining through a cheesecloth will make a clearer broth. My sister uses the cheesecloth method, and she discards the vegetables with the bones.
2-I use a pasta pot for the meat and leave the vegetables in the broth. I do not mind if the broth is a little cloudy and I like a lot of vegetables in my soup. Using a pasta insert allows me to pull the meat out of the pot and then sift through it easily. A strainer works just as well.
3-Make sure to wash your hands very well and cool the meat before trying to pick the bones out. This step is messy but necessary.
4-There are tiny bones in the legs and wings, make sure to get them all, also remove any skin. I discard any meat fragments that look too dark to me also. This is hard to describe because I go by look and feel. I just put meat back in the soup that I would like to eat.
5-The result is a meaty homemade soup, with no bones.
6-I season after the meat is taken off the bones because I use the skin and it was seasoned for roasting. This way I taste the broth before I add more seasoning.