A different Thanksgiving meal a little early....

Let's get this Thanksgiving meal rolling a little early with an all-in-one pot variation of a Thanksgiving meal.

How about kitchen sink Turkey Soup?

I call it Kitchen Sink Turkey Soup cause it's got everything in it but the kitchen sink!

Here are some of the canned / packaged ingredients I'll be using - eventually.

Starting with a 12# defrosted turkey which incidentally takes 2 - 3 days to defrost!

And a bunch of fresh veggies - basically what I had left after last week's shopping trip.

Draw and quarter / cut-up the 12# turkey into manageable pieces.

Season the holy bejeebers out of it - anything that doesn't stick to the turkey will get lost in the pot - which is a good thing - salt, pepper, and a mix of curry powder, garam masala and allspice.

Get your 20 quart stock pot pretty close to smoking hot and start browning / searing the pieces.  This is the magic step that does 2 things:

1. Sears / binds those fantastic seasonings to the turkey.
2. Leaves behind that crazy good residue at the bottom of the pot that, along with the bones and skin of the turkey, make the best stock known to man.
3. The key is to not burn the residue. If it starts to get hot, add a little water to the pot to temporarily liquefy the good grunge and keep it from burning.

Turning and searing and browning is probably the most labor intensive part of this process but you will feel the love when you taste the end product.

All done with the turkey searing. Note the residue in the pot - that's a good thing.

While all that searing and browning and not burning was going on, I started on the veggies prep - sweet onions, anaheim pepper, squash, zucchini, red cabbage - I needed some celery and carrots but didn't have it - but this is a cook what you got kinda dish - so that's what I did.  The veggies get the same seasoning as the meat.

This is not an all-day thing. In fact, it took me only 45 minutes from the beginning cut-up of the chicken to having everything in the pot for a long simmer. The reason why is because I do things simultaneously - like opening up all the canned goods and getting them ready for entry into the melee or hot mess... whatever you wanna call this conglomeration.

More veggie prep - swiss chard, collared greens and kale... and of course more seasoning.  You season by entry into the pot - that way everything melds together taste-wise into a perfect harmony of yummi-ness.... can I trademark that phrase?

You see where we're going here don't ya? The veggies are getting the benefit of all that turkey grunge at the bottom of the pot.

What's this? Equal parts of fresh ginger and garlic!

Roll the veggies which will liberate their own water and dissolve that crazy goodness at the bottom of the pot and start adding in the seared turkey.

Yep - that's all 12# of turkey in that pot! Talking about feeding an army... or a homeless population - this'll do it!

Remember those canned / packaged ingredients - 

1 jar of Simply Ragu (no sugar added marinara sauce)

1 can of diced tomatoes

1/2 can of pumpkin

1 can of hominy

2 quarts of chicken broth

1 lemon

Generous sprinkle of Red chile powder and chili mix seasonings

Everybody in the pool!

And I added in a diced up already baked sweet potato.  Why? 

Because I can.

That's it folks - the work is over - let the simmering magic begin!

4 hours of low simmer later and the turkey is falling off the bone and it has the consistency of a stew - posole - soup.

Undoubtedly the best soup I have ever made and guaranteed to make you thankful for the effort and for just being alive.

Happy Early Thanksgiving from the Discovery Kitchen to yours!