There were a lot of small bits of meat left on the turkey carcass. Too small to bother picking off to eat, but collectively enough that it seemed wasteful to just chuck it out. What to do? Soup!
I started by making turkey stock in the Instant Pot. Broke the carcass in half and nestled the pieces down in the IP. I also added the wing tips. Added three carrots cut into large pieces, three ribs of celery (with leaves) cut into large pieces, two medium onions with root trimmed off, cut in half, clean outer paper left on, 1 tsp dried thyme (crushed), 1 tsp salt, about a dozen black peppercorns, two bay leaves, 2 quarts of water. Put the IP on "Soup" and let it naturally depressurize. Picked out as much of the meat as I could, which now came off the bone without resistance, strained the stock and pressed the leavings to squeeze out what juice I could. Stock went back in the IP along with three carrots cleaned and cut to bite-size pieces, one large diced onion, the turkey meat, another tsp dried thyme, ground black pepper, a pinch of cayenne, and 2 cups egg noodles. I'd have added another two or three ribs of celery but I used it all in the stock. Closed up the IP and set it for 2 minutes at high pressure. When the buzzer went off I did a full steam release. I adjusted the seasoning before serving, adding more salt, a bit more crushed thyme, and 1 Tbsp lemon juice. In retrospect I should have used 2 Tbsp lemon juice.
The result was not knock your socks off haute cuisine, but it was pretty tasty comfort food. I was originally concerned that the smoke might not come off real well in a soup but I was very pleasantly surprised. The smoky pieces of turkey were quite good, even five days after being smoked. The IP did an excellent job of extracting the gelatin from the bones, giving the soup a velvety mouth feel. About my only complaint was we didn't end up with enough soup. Three adults and two children, one of whom had maybe two spoonfuls, went through all but about one bowl of it.
I started by making turkey stock in the Instant Pot. Broke the carcass in half and nestled the pieces down in the IP. I also added the wing tips. Added three carrots cut into large pieces, three ribs of celery (with leaves) cut into large pieces, two medium onions with root trimmed off, cut in half, clean outer paper left on, 1 tsp dried thyme (crushed), 1 tsp salt, about a dozen black peppercorns, two bay leaves, 2 quarts of water. Put the IP on "Soup" and let it naturally depressurize. Picked out as much of the meat as I could, which now came off the bone without resistance, strained the stock and pressed the leavings to squeeze out what juice I could. Stock went back in the IP along with three carrots cleaned and cut to bite-size pieces, one large diced onion, the turkey meat, another tsp dried thyme, ground black pepper, a pinch of cayenne, and 2 cups egg noodles. I'd have added another two or three ribs of celery but I used it all in the stock. Closed up the IP and set it for 2 minutes at high pressure. When the buzzer went off I did a full steam release. I adjusted the seasoning before serving, adding more salt, a bit more crushed thyme, and 1 Tbsp lemon juice. In retrospect I should have used 2 Tbsp lemon juice.
The result was not knock your socks off haute cuisine, but it was pretty tasty comfort food. I was originally concerned that the smoke might not come off real well in a soup but I was very pleasantly surprised. The smoky pieces of turkey were quite good, even five days after being smoked. The IP did an excellent job of extracting the gelatin from the bones, giving the soup a velvety mouth feel. About my only complaint was we didn't end up with enough soup. Three adults and two children, one of whom had maybe two spoonfuls, went through all but about one bowl of it.
