Turkey Noodle Soup

I hope you didn't let your turkey carcass go to waste this Thanksgiving. Our new Thanksgiving Day tradition consists of having our big turkey dinner for lunch and then putting up the Christmas tree. (Yeah, it's Beth's thing) I have also started making my own turkey stock while we decorate the tree, which allows me to enjoy Thanksgiving a little bit longer. Just hack up some of the bones, add the aromatics you roasted with the turkey (you did use aromatics when you roasted your turkey, right?) cover with water, add a heavy dose of salt, and let it boil for a couple of hours. I usually have apples, onions, garlic, celery, carrots, sage, thyme, and rosemary leftover from my turkey so I just throw it all in there for the stock, you could also use all fresh vegies too.

Check out the sweet ladle Beth got me for my birthday this year.

Ingredients

1 pot of turkey stock or 8-10 cups chicken stock
1 T butter
2 large carrots, diced
1 large onion, diced
3 stalks of celery
3 cups left over turkey (I use the dark meat for this)
2 cups small egg noodles
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Process:

Heat stock in large pot. In a seperate skillet, melt the butter and saute carrots, onion and celery until soft. When stock starts to simmer, add vegetables, turkey and egg noodles. Once noodles are fully cooked, add parsley and serve.

Braised Short Ribs

Got this from "Chuck's Day Off" on cooking channel. I didn't realize the pic was so bad until I had eaten my meal, so apologies for that. I'm not sure I've ever had beef short ribs, but they were very good. The red wine sauce was easy to make and I'm sure it would work with a pork shoulder or chicken thighs too. Braising is awesome.

Ingredients:

Braised Short Ribs
3 large onions, coarsely chopped
3 to 4 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
4 large carrots, peeled, trimmed and cut into 2-inch chunks
2 beets, peeled, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
3 heads garlic, cut in half
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
6 beef short ribs
Coarse salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
Canola oil
2 (750 ml) bottles red table wine
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup brown sugar
Handful peppercorns
1 to 2 tablespoons butter, a nub


Process:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the onion, celery, carrots, beets and garlic. Add the rosemary, thyme, star anise, and cinnamon stick, and set aside.

Cut the ribs between the bones, and trim all the excess outer fat. Season the ribs well with coarse salt. Dredge in flour until well coated.

In a large Dutch oven or wide soup pot on high heat, pour in enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the ribs to the hot oil, and sear the ribs so they are browned well on all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove the ribs, and set aside.

In the same pan, transfer all the vegetables from the bowl, and stir to caramelize, and pick up all the brown bits. Add the meat back into the pot. Pour the wine over top. Ensure all is covered with the liquid and if not, top up with water.

Add the cocoa powder, brown sugar and peppercorns, and bring to a boil, cover with a lid or foil, and place in the oven until the meat is fork tender, about 3 hours. Remove the ribs to a platter, and strain out the solids to use for something else.

Boil the cooking liquid in a wide shallow pan until it is reduced by half. It will be richer, more flavorful and thicker. Add a nub of butter at the end for sheen and flavor.