Portuguese-Style Turkey Soup With Linguica, Kale and Potatoes - Remains of the Day for Foodie Friday

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Once the dishes are done and the silver and china put away, the work associated with Thanksgiving dinner is nearly done. Among the outstanding tasks is the handling of the remains of the day. The meat is no problem. It will mysteriously disappear and by Saturday the turkey carcass will be picked bare. Some look at carcass and see a skeleton, others see a soup that emerges with little effort from the last vestige of the Thanksgiving meal. I've tasted lots of turkey soups in my day and have never come across a bad one. Just in case you're in the market for something a bit different, I have an atypical turkey soup to share with you. It's based on caldo verde, a Portuguese soup that's made with Linguica sausage, kale and beans or potatoes. Here, however, rich turkey stock takes the soup to another level. The soup uses two kinds of potatoes, one to thicken and the other to flavor and provide some texture to the soup. The kale freshens and adds a healthy component to a soup that normally uses leftover vegetables that are well past their prime. Linguica is a wonderfully flavored garlic sausage that you can find in most large supermarkets. You have all the other components you need to make this in your pantry. If you don't want to use wine in the stock add an additional 2 cups of water and you'll be fine. Here's the recipe. You'll see it's made in two parts. First, the stock and then the soup. The stock can be made in a crock-pot.

Portuguese-Style Turkey Soup with Linguica, Potatoes and Kale...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
Stock
1 turkey carcass, broken into several large pieces
4 quarts water
2 cups dry white vermouth or white wine
2 (8-oz. each) baking potatoes, peeled and cut into eighths
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large rib celery, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large onion, peeled and quartered
3 garlic cloves, unpeeled but smashed
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
A small bunch of parley sprigs
Soup
6 medium boiling potatoes, unpeeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
3/4 pound Linguica sausage, cut into 1/4-inch rounds
3/4 to 1 pound fresh kale, stems discarded, washed and cut into 1/4-inch strips

Directions:
1) To make stock, place carcass, water, wine, baking potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, salt pepper and parsley sprigs in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 2 hours, skimming surface of soup as necessary to remove any scum that forms.
2) Remove potatoes and set aside. Strain stock through sieve into a large bowl. Remove any meat from strained solids and set aside. Discard solids in strainer.
3) Place potato chunks into a blender with one cup of stock. Puree.
4) To make the soup, return stock to a soup pot. Bring back to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir in potato puree. Add boiling potatoes to pot. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Cover pot and simmer, until potatoes are tender. Add Linguica and reserved turkey to pot. Simmer over medium-low heat to blend flavors, about 15 minutes. Add strips of kale and cook 5 minutes longer, or until kale is tender. Taste again for seasonings, adding salt and pepper as required to taste. Yield: 3 quarts; 8 to 10 servings.

This recipe is being linked to:
Designs By Gollum - Foodie Friday