Thom-Turkey-Kha

Last Thanksgiving, I don't quite remember how, but we ended up with 3 turkeys. I have no idea why. So our resident turkey frier fried 2 of them (it's way quicker), and we brined, then smoked the third. All were WONDERFUL -- and amazingly enough, there were very few leftovers.

So I started doing searches for what to do with turkey leftovers -- because the idea of piling some of everything you had for Thanksgiving on a sandwich kinda makes me wanna hurl a little bit -- and I came across this: "Coconut-Lime Turkey and Rice Soup" from Kalyn's Kitchen.

*Quick side-note, if you have never tried anything from Kalyn's Kitchen, you're missing out! It's mostly South Beach diet recipes, but all that means is low-sugar, low-carb -- and really, who couldn't use less sugar and carbs!? Some of our FAVORITE recipes have come from here, so check her out!

But as I was saying..... this soup sounded amazingly similar to our favorite soup on the planet, Thom Kha! Thom Kha makes EVERYTHING better! Whenever we're sick, sad, grumpy, or just cold -- this is our go-to soup.

So, I modified Kalyn's recipe a bit to make it a little more Thai....

I started by making stock with all the turkey bones. I use mostly the same ingredients for all the stock I make, so it's the same as the corn stock (recipe here), just minus the corn & add turkey bones (duh). The only thing you do differently with stock made from meat is after straining, stick it in the freezer for 30-60 minutes (or leave it in the fridge over night) so the fat settles on top & hardens, then scrape it off. Ew. Nasty.

This is after about 5 hours of cooking (pretty gross looking, but tastes yummy)

So start with 6 cups of turkey stock (fat removed), and add garlic, lime juice, ginger slices, brown sugar, soy sauce & red pepper flakes and simmer on medium for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, wash mushrooms and slice into bite-sized pieces, and chop or shred turkey.

After 20 minutes, scoop out the garlic & ginger and throw away.
Add mushrooms, let simmer for about 5 minutes.
Add coconut milk, turkey & cilantro. (after you add the coconut milk, you can't let it boil any longer or the milk might curdle, so be sure to keep the fire on low)
Taste at this point and add cayenne, salt, pepper and/or more red pepper flakes as needed.
When the mushrooms are almost cooked, add green onions.

Awesome.

Turkey Thom Kha
(Chicken can be substituted if you don't have turkey - it's yummy too!)

6 cups turkey stock
6 T fresh-squeezed lime juice10 thin slices ginger root*
6-8 medium garlic cloves, sliced
3 T soy sauce
3 T brown sugar
2 cans coconut milk
2-3 cups leftover diced or shreded turkey (if you dice it, make it pretty small)
3 large portabello mushroom caps, sliced into bite sized pieces
2-3 T chopped cilantro (more if you like, but I'm not a huge cilantro fan)
1 green onion, sliced
Red pepper flakes (to taste)
Cayenne (to taste) -- don't judge me. Yes, I put it in everything!


• Add 6 cups of turkey stock (fat removed) to large pot along with garlic, lime juice, ginger slices, brown sugar, soy sauce & red pepper flakes and simmer on medium-high for about 20 minutes.

• Meanwhile, wash mushrooms and slice into bite-sized pieces, and chop or shred turkey.

• After 20 minutes, scoop out the garlic & ginger and throw away.
• Add mushrooms, let simmer for about 5 minutes.
• Add coconut milk, turkey & cilantro. (after you add the coconut milk, you can't let it boil any longer or the milk might curdle, so be sure to keep the fire on low)
• Taste at this point and add cayenne, salt, pepper and/or more red pepper flakes as needed.
• When the mushrooms are almost cooked, add green onions.

ENJOY!

*Side note -- ginger isn't cheap! And most recipes only call for small amounts, yet you have to buy the whole root. Stick it in a ziplock bag in the freezer and just cut off pieces when you need them. It'll keep indefinitely!