Turkey Mushroom Soup

Many people end up making turkey soup from the carcass of their Thanksgiving bird. We do that as well but we usually then jazz it up as turkey mushroom soup. Taking the broth that you make from your turkey bones (if you have never done this just put the carcass in a large pot with water to cover, carrots sliced, onions sliced, celery sliced, a good handful of parsley, one or two garlic cloves sliced, and a small number of peppercorns just whole). Bring to a boil and then simmer for at least three hours. You then strain off the solids and chill the broth so you can get the fat off the top. You can pick the turkey meat off the bones and put it in the broth but my husband always thinks that meat is old and tasteless at this point so we save some meat from the dark and light portions to add when we add the sliced mushrooms in the next step.

Then put in a bunch of bay leaves. These can be fresh or dried but a good number is what gives the broth a good winter aroma and taste. Add the stems of one package of fresh mushrooms chopped up and simmer for at least 30 minutes. Check for seasoning at this point. It might need both salt and pepper. About 30 minutes before eating, bring the soup up to simmer again and add all the mushroom tops sliced, and about 1/2 cup of dry sherry cook for 20 minutes, add up to 1/2 cup of heavy cream and heat through. Now you can thicken this with the classic egg and cream or you can use cornstarch or a roux made by melting butter and stirring in flour or a combination of these methods. Some people like their soup thicker and some like it thinner so how much you do is individual. Do warn people that there are bay leaves so they don't accidentally swallow a whole leaf but they are pretty big and visible so it shouldn't be a huge problem.