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Culinary adventures: Thanksgiving leftovers get new life in soup

One of my pet peeves is wasting food and Thanksgiving leftovers are no exception.

Between turkey sandwiches and simply reheating things a few times, I am usually successful in using up most items, but that's not to say I don't get a few “not again” comments from my family.

Last year however was different as my daughter's boyfriend, Pat, and I used our leftovers to make the most delicious homemade turkey noodle soup, with inspiration from an unlikely source — the Food Network show “Iron Chef America.”

“Iron Chef America” typically features a single secret ingredient. Two chefs and their assistants work against each other and the clock to create a number of unique dishes using that ingredient, along with ingredients from a substantial pantry. I have seen secret ingredients ranging from exotic fish to real Italian Parmesan cheese, but last November, the network added unusual twists to their offerings, with one of the most unusual “secret ingredients” being Thanksgiving leftovers. The chefs had to create recipes with dishes that one might find on many American Thanksgiving tables, including turkey and mashed potatoes, stuffing and green bean casserole. While I do not remember any specific dishes the chefs created, I distinctly remember how one pureed leftover stuffing and mashed potatoes to thicken and season a sauce. That clip provided my inspiration for what my family now fondly refers to as Pat's Turkey Noodle Soup.

Two days after Thanksgiving, Pat said he had a taste for turkey noodle soup. I have made many a pot of chicken noodle soup, but never the turkey variety, but it sounded like a good way to use leftover turkey and since Pat was willing to help it sounded like a good idea to me. I gathered typical soup ingredients like onion, carrots, and celery, but stopped myself when I remembered the “Iron Chef America” episode. A few minutes later the kitchen counter was covered with plastic containers and zip-top bags containing the remnants of our holiday feast.

We chopped celery and carrots from a relish tray and added some fresh onion to create the perfect base for our soup. We cut turkey, both white and dark meat, into bite-sized pieces. We started by sautéing the vegetables in one pot and heating chicken stock in another. To the stock we added leftover gravy, stuffing and green bean casserole. Wet bread and green bean casserole might sound disgusting, but think about it ... cooks use bread as a thickener for sauces and a binder in meatballs. The starches served as a good thickener for our soup. On top of this, it added sage and other spices to the stock. Once the stock heated through we used an immersion blender to carefully purée the entire mixture.

Next we added the turkey and stock to the vegetables and added a little water to thin the soup a bit before bringing the mixture to a boil and adding the finishing touch, homemade noodles. The result was a silky smooth thick soup full of Thanksgiving goodness and chewy thick noodles; pure comfort food that tasted so good even we were surprised.

Should you decide to create your own version of our soup, don't feel like you need to follow this recipe exactly; let it serve as a guideline and use the leftovers you have on hand. Just make sure you have a balance and not too much of any one ingredient.

I know the recipe sounds odd, but I cannot begin to tell you how proud we were of our delicious “Iron Chef”-inspired soup. Before we knew it the rest of the family was sitting around the table with bowls of hot soup telling us how good it was, blissfully unaware that they were eating leftovers — again.

Ÿ Penny Kazmier, a wife and mother of four from South Barrington, was the Daily Herald's 2011 Cook of the Year.

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