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03/30/2011 National Turkey Neck Soup Day Mashed Potatoes and Turkey Neck Gravy

Source of Recipe

Penniless Parenting


Recipe Introduction

Today is National Turkey Neck Soup Day, so I set myself the task of finding out just what in the Dickens Turkey Neck Soup actually is. It turns out the Dickens had nothing to do with it. Turkey Neck Soup is (unlike the equally distasteful sounding Bird’s Nest Soup) pretty much what it says – a soup whose stock is made from turkey necks. It is of course a soup American in origin, what with the Turkey being also American in origin. It’s also an example of what is now known as “Nose to Tail” eating, making use as it does of a part of the bird that one might not usually consider eating, but that really shouldn’t be wasted. As such, historically it also derives from the culture of the ‘Less Than Wealthy and Therefore Less Than Wasteful.’ Good, wholesome and sensible down-home food, which also explains why most of the references and recipes I found were from the Deep South. It figures frequently in menus from BBQ restaurants, so is evidently a staple. The neck of the turkey is actually quite meaty. It’s fairly tough meat, what with the constant turkeyish activities of pecking and gobbling. Now tough meat actually has a lot more flavour than tender meat; you just need to cook it longer to get it tender, which brings out even more of the flavour. Which makes it perfect for soup. I can’t offer a recipe here, as I’ve never cooked it myself, but I can talk you through the basics. Essentially, you boil a number of turkey necks for an hour or two with vegetables to create the stock and tenderize the necks. Then you remove the necks, shred the meat from the *ahem* spine, and add the meat back into the soup with more veggies and some rice. And by all accounts you end up with a meaty and deeply flavoursome and healthy soup. So healthy in fact, that one recipe I found was actually from a website dedicated to cancer-fighting diets for dogs with only three legs. And the Chinese – always a people given to making the absolute most of any protein source – have taken to it as well. I found another recipe with ****ake mushrooms that sounds equally delicious. My next task is to investigate if it is at all source-able here in the UK. Turkeys only appear in supermarkets and butchers here at Christmas (and Easter, oddly enough), so I’m wondering if I can even get hold of turkey necks. I hope I can. I really want to give this soup a try. So Turkey Neck Soup Day? Sounds quite appropriate and fine to me. What the heck. It beats Food On A Stick day

List of Ingredients

HOME COOKIN’ 03/30/2011 National Turkey Neck Soup Day Mashed Potatoes and Turkey Neck Gravy



Mashed Potatoes and Turkey Neck Gravy


Ingredients for Mashed Potatoes:

Potatoes
Onions
Water
Salt
Rendered chicken fat
Pepper (optional)

Ingredients for Turkey Neck Gravy

Turkey necks
Water
Onions
Rendered chicken fat
Mushrooms
Corn starch or potato starch
Salt
Garlic powder
Soy sauce



Recipe


1. Boil the potatoes in salted water until they're falling apart. Quartering them makes this process faster, as does cooking the potatoes in a pressure cooker.

2. Pour off most of the water into a container. (Reuse this water when making bread. The starch in this water helps make the most terrific bread.)

3. With a potato masher or a fork, mash the potatoes into a smooth consistency. (Yes, I skipped the peeling stage. I keep the peels in mine- it's healthier that way and makes sure there is no food waste.)

4. Saute onions in chicken fat until golden. Add to the mashed potatoes.

5. Mix well. Salt, and add pepper. If dry, add a drop of the potato water.

6. Serve with turkey neck gravy.


1. Cover turkey necks in lots of water and boil. You want to cook this for a while so they really soften up. A pressure cooker will eliminate cooking time, but otherwise it should simmer on a low heat for a good 2 hours or more.

2. When the turkey necks are soft, sauté a large onion in chicken fat until it's a golden brown. Once the onions are cooked, add mushrooms and sauté.

3. Set aside a cup of the water in which the turkey necks were cooked. Pour a large amount of the rest (or more, depending on how much you're making) into the pan with the sautéed onions.

4. Mix starch with the reserved water, more or less depending on your preference. The thicker you want the gravy, the more starch should be mixed in. I usually put in half a cup or more of starch. Add the starch to the pan and bring to a boil.

5. Once the gravy boils, note the texture. If it is not thick enough, take a bit more turkey broth and mix it with more starch and repeat the process.

6. Add soy sauce, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.

7. Add the turkey necks to the gravy and serve over mashed potatoes.