Thanksgiving turkey redux: Turkey Orzo Soup

I can't believe it's been a week since I've posted!  Man, that just shows you what working the weekend and having a bad cold will do for you--makes you a lazy bones!  I've almost literally done nothing but work, sleep, and whine the last week.  I've had my cold since Thanksgiving and somewhere along the line I wasn't careful enough and gave it to Gene, who I think is sicker than I am, although I whine louder and you know what that means: the squeaky wheel is the bigger pain in the butt.

But we're finally both feeling a little better so I have no excuses but to get back to my life including cooking tonight instead of ordering out and today, with God as my witness, I will be working on my novel. That back-up cd hasn't seen the light of day in at least a couple of weeks and I originally promised myself it would be finished by the end of the year which is fastly approaching. Sigh.

But before I pull that out, let me tell you real quick about the soup I made the other night that was, as Mr Food says "Oooooohhhh, so good!", and another pasta soup for Ruth's weekly Presto Pasta Nights.  Check her blog on Friday to see this weeks round up! 

This was the easiest soup I've ever made. I almost hate to say there's a recipe so I'll just walk you through how I did it.  Let me tell you though, Gene and I practically fought for the dregs in the pot. It just hit us both right the other night when we were cold miserable and neither of us had any humor or energy.

I saved all the bones from the Thanksgiving turkey (with a little meat here and there left on them) so I simply pulled out about half of them, the back and maybe a wing, threw them in a dutch oven, covered with water and added a healthy tablespoon of vegetarian soup base, a tsp of dried thyme, a tbsp each of dried green peppers and dried celery, and some white pepper.  I brought that to a boil, turned it down to medium and high simmered it down until it reduced by almost a half. I then pulled the bones out, leaving the meat bits, tasted and reseasoned the stock, threw in a cup of orzo and simmered until that plumped.  At the end, I simply added about a 1/2 cup of fat free half and half and that's all there was too it. Light in calories but heavy in comfort, we feasted on the woup with oyster crackers.

Comments

[Butta Buns]

Mr. Food, I remember him fondly! I thought he was only a Pennsylvanian thing since his shows were in Pittsburgh.

I hope you both feel better soon, getting sick this time of year is so maddening! Man, that soup looks so good and hearty. I'd definitely pull chef's rights over the last bowl.

[Katie]

I hate the old exchange of colds bit...hope you both are on the mend.
Great soup. I think one can really tell the difference between turkey and chicken soup...and I love, though rarely get, the turkey. And orzo - brilliant! Easy to eat and all that!

[Glenna]

BB--I think he's syndicated. He's still on our noon news here. I always laugh becuase one of our neighbors looks just like him. Small coincidence but it makes me smile.

Thanks for the good wishes! Doing better but would love to get rid of this nagging cough! grrrrr....

Katie--Thanks so much--I think we are! And yep, I have one more round of turkey bones and I'm doing it again--the turkey soup just sounds right for the colds and this time of year.

[leosatter]

Maybe you can help me out with something…? I want to order all of my food online from now on because of various reasons, but I don’t know where to go for quality food. I have tried 2 companies so far, Fresh Dining, and and Celebrity Foods, but I wanna get others I can try out. Do you know of any? The main thing I’ve ordered so far is steak. I guess you can say, I’m a steak junkie. LOL!!! From what I have found out (from what I have ordered so far) I think I am able to regulate the quality of beef I buy. I hate going to a store and getting that crappy slab of beef that I have to cut down until there is like nothing left. Hahaha!!!! (its so true though) Anyhow, sorry that I made this comment so long. If you can help me out or point me in a direction where I might find more quality foods online, I would greatly appreciate it. Have a good day or night! (depending on when you read this) LOL!!!!

[Ruth]

Sorry you're not feeling well, but the soup looks wonderful. Thanks for sharing with Presto Pasta Nights and feel better soon!

[Glenna]

Leo--I don't have a lot of experience in that area, having only ordered a few things here and there from places like Dean & Deluca and Williams Sonoma, and that wasn't complete meals. However, Gene and I do order quite a bit from Schwan's and although it isn't delivered by mail, we do place our order on the internet and then the driver delivers it. Schwan's has fantastic meat: steaks, poultry, etc. and one of the things I really like about it is how tender the product is, how well packaged and individually packaged everything is, and how convenient. They have a wide variety of products from complete meals to individual foods so I do place an order a couple of times a month.

If anyone has any better advice, please don't hesitate to comment or email me privately and I'll pass along your remarks.

Ruth--Thanks so much! Can't wait to see the round up.