Jason’s Soup Recipe is No Jive Turkey

I recently found myself in possession of a surprise turkey. Perhaps you too have experienced this phenomenon. Someone has a giant frozen turkey for which they have no room in their freezer, so they do a sneak attack visit where they stop by to “say hello” and then suddenly your freezer is at maximum turkey capacity. It can happen without warning, so be wary of any people…especially aging parents…struggling to remain neutral-faced as they hide something heavy behind their backs.

Not only did I not have room in my chill chest for a frozen turkey, but it’s July. What kind of crazy person cooks a full turkey in the summer? It’s madness, I say. I’m currently in my summer cut phase so a giant full-on turkey dinner with all the trimmings was out of the question.

What to do, what to do. I thought about executing my own turkey drive-by where I make my sudden turkey storage issue someone else’s problem, but I already have enough people that don’t like me.

I decided I would have to cook it. I use a brining method for roasting a turkey inspired by Alton Brown that never fails. People always complain that roast turkey is dry and devoid of flavor. That is not the case with a bird in my kitchen.

That still didn’t solve my issue of what to do once it was roasted to golden brown deliciousness, however. It needed to be something healthy and tasty, yet not filling or so calorie laden that it would mess up my 500 day deficit.

I decided if I was cooking an entire cold weather turkey, I might as well make another traditionally cold weather food while I was at it. Soup. I would make my Swiss army knife of the culinary world, homemade Cream of Mushroom soup, only with a LOT of turkey thrown in. I would have my protein loaded lunches sorted for at least a week with the amount of liquid gold this would make.

It turns out that it’s perfectly fine to eat soup during the summer. It’s just as delicious and enjoyable as it is in winter months. I would suggest if you do not have a stand alone electric roasting pan for your turkey to procure one prior to making this dish.

While you will have to use your oven for the first thirty minutes of the cooking process, being able to transfer the turkey to the roasting pan parked…say outside on your porch as I did…means you won’t be heating your kitchen for hours. The A/C units around here have enough work to do without adding to it.

I added cauliflower rice to my soup for body and to up the nutrition benefit, but it’s not necessary. If you like a soupier soup, skip the cauliflower rice. If you like your soup more substantial and full-bodied, throw it in there. Be warned, however, that you will need a large stock pot to manage the volume we are requiring of your cooking hardware.

If you have a frozen bird lurking in your chill chest from last holiday season taking up all the real estate, or someone has done you dirty and left one on your doorstep, thaw it out and stop the freezer burn now. I understand that it’s weird to roast a giant bird in July, but weird is good.

So is the soup.

No Jive Turkey Cream of Mushroom soup

Ingredients:

Brine

1 gallon vegetable stock (full sodium)

½ cup Swerve Brown sugar

1 cup sea salt

1 tbsp black peppercorns

2 tsp allspice berries

1 gallon cold water, heavily iced

Soup:

1 turkey 14 – 16 lb. thawed

Spice rub (1tsp pepper, thyme, sage, onion, and garlic powder mixed together in a bowl)

¼ cup grass fed butter

6 cups chopped mushrooms (shiitake and baby bella)

½ cup yellow onion chopped fine

3 cloves garlic diced fine

½ tsp sea salt and pepper

1 ½ tsp dried thyme

32 oz low sodium chicken broth

4 oz grass fed cream cheese

1 cup grass fed heavy cream

¾ cup grated parmesan cheese

1 package baby potatoes (mix of purple and red) roasted

1 24 oz package cooked cauliflower rice (optional)

1 tbsp grass fed butter

Instructions:

Make the brine at least two days ahead of time. Combine all the ingredients in a large stock pot and bring to a boil, whisking occasionally. After it comes to a rolling boil, remove from heat and let it cool to room temperature. Place in the fridge until completely chilled before brining the turkey. 12 hours before cooking, brine the turkey overnight in a 5 gallon cooler, Mix the brine with the water in the cooler, then place the thawed turkey breast side down in the mixture. Add as much ice as you can fit, at least 6 lbs. worth. Make sure the turkey is completely submerged by the brine and close the lid.

The following morning, set one oven rack to the lowest position and preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Drain and rinse the brine from the turkey, then pat dry with paper towels. Use a knife to make a cut in the skin over the breasts, drumsticks, and thighs. Use your fingers to put the spice rub against the meat under the skin, then place the skin back if it pulled off too far. Rub a light layer of avocado oil over the skin and set in the roasting pan of your electric roaster.

Place the roasting pan on the lowest rack of your oven and roast the bird at 500 degrees for 30 minutes. While it is roasting, fold a piece of heavy duty foil into a triangle shape to protect the breasts from overcooking during the next phase and go dig your probe thermometer out of the kitchen junk drawer. When the thirty minutes is up, remove the bird from the oven, carefully fit the foil triangle over the front of the bird covering the breasts, and insert the probe thermometer in the thickest part of the breast, set to go off at 170 degrees. Place the roasting pan back inside the electric roaster (outside preferably) and cook at 350 degrees until the probe lets you know it’s 170 degrees. If you do not have an electric roaster, adjust the oven to 350 degrees and continue cooking there. If you do not have a probe thermometer, a 16 lb. turkey will usually need another 1 ½ to 2 hours of cook time.

Once the bird is done cooking, turn off the roasting pan and let it rest for at least 15 – 20 minutes before carving and chopping into bite sized pieces for the soup:

Wash and dry the baby potatoes, cut into quarters. Drizzle with a splash of olive oil and a pinch of salt, pepper, and thyme. Roast at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, stir and rotate the pan, and roast for another 10 minutes:

Cut your mushrooms, onion, and garlic. Melt a tbsp of butter in your stockpot and sauté the mushrooms and onions with the sea salt, pepper, and thyme. Once they are soft, add the diced garlic and cook for another minute or two, stirring constantly.

Melt the ½ block of cream cheese in the pot with the veggies, stirring until smooth, then add the chicken stock, turkey meat, and potatoes. Set another large skillet to cook the cauliflower rice now if you are using:

Heat the soup to simmer, then remove from heat, add the parmesan cheese and heavy cream, stir to combine. Add the cauliflower rice now to the soup if using: