Smoked turkey and green pea soup

If you are lucky enough to have a smoked turkey carcass lying around (or in our case friends who had one and didn't know what to do with it), you can make a terrific green pea soup with it. Just make sure that there is some meat on the carcass too.

Ingredients - Stock

1 smoked turkey carcass stripped of most of its meat

Enough water to submerge the carcass (at least 1 1/2 US Gallons) 

Ingredients - Soup

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

3 large yellow onions (not sweet, but more like Spanish or Bermuda onions), finely diced

1 whole celery head, stalks finely diced

1 lb carrots, finely diced

2 (or more to taste) hot chile peppers, finely chopped. I used 2 Thai chilies from the garden

2 lbs split green peas

3/4 US gallon smoked turkey stock. (Possibly more if the soup gets too thick)

1 1/2 lbs smoked turkey meat, taken from the carcass

3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

salt/pepper to taste

Method - Stock

Place all of the carcass into a stockpot and cover with water. Simmer over low heat for at least 3 hours. Strain (I stored ours in a 1 gallon milk container). Note there are no other flavorings in the stock.

Method - Soup

Putt the oil into a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions celery, and carrots, and hot peppers. Cook gently for about 10 minutes until the onions are translucent.Take care not to brown the onions. While sweating the vegetables, you might want to add a little salt to draw out some of the moisture.

Rince and drain the split peas, checking to make sure that there are no rocks or other undesirable elements. Add the peas to the pot and then add 3/4 gallon of the stock. Bring to a simmer stirring often. Simmer for 20 - 30 minutes - until the peas have lost their raw texture, but still have a little bite.

While the peas are simmering, shred the turkey meat into small chunks - a bit larger than the carrots. They need to be able to fit onto the spoon. Set the turkey aside.

Whn you think the peas are cooked, taste for doneness and seasoning. This is when I dd the majority of the salt/pepper. Knowing that both the stock and the meat will be a bit salty.

Once the peas are at the texture you want them, use the stick blender to smooth out the soup. For a hearty soup, stop short of pureeing completely. For something more elegant, puree all the way and then pass through a strainer.

At this point add the turkey and the rice wine vinegar for balance. You may want to add a bit more liquid at this stage

Either heat the soup through and serve immediately or refrigerate and reheat just before serving.