Recipe 1 : Leftover turkey soup with tomatoes, Swiss chard and baby potatoes

Neil complained about this. He suggested this was not a soup, but a stew. Why? Because it was too thin and the potatoes were not 'mashed' into the liquid. This is the exact opposite of what I consider to be a soup. But, it did make me think, what is the difference between a soup and a stew? One is thicker, surely (a stew), with flour or potato acting as a thickening agent. It seems there may be some regional variation in this opinion and one that warrants further research. This, however, is definitely a soup in my eyes. The base was made from so many pieces of left over turkey and juice, including all the jellied pieces from below, it became solid when cooled, the advantage then being that I could peel off the fat from the surface. 

Recipe : Soup base

4 cups of leftover turkey pieces, including the carcass, jellied juices and any vegetables from the cooking tray. (I actually cut the carcass in half and still made enough soup for 6. The rest of the carcass is in the freezer - ready for another time). 

1 chili pepper

1 tomato

1 clove garlic, left whole

3 bay leaves

10 whole black peppercorns

1 sprig of basil

6 sage leaves

6 cups water

Throw all ingredients into a slow cooker or large pan and allow to simmer for about 4 - 5 hours. Sieve the liquid into a large bowl, keeping all the other ingredients in the sieve and when cool, separate the turkey meat from the other ingredients. Add all the meat to the base and discard everything else. Transfer the base with the turkey meat to a large pan. Now, if you want, you can refrigerate overnight to allow it to solidify and then scrape off the layer of fat that has formed on the surface.

Ingredients for soup

1 carrot, peeled and cut into slices

1/2 bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

1 large handful of Swiss chard, leaves finely shredded and stalks cut into fine dice

a handful of cauliflower florets

6 baby potatoes, peeled and halved

1 small tin plum tomatoes with juice

a handful of enoki mushrooms

1/4 chicken stock cube, (if needed)

2 tbsp fresh sage and parsley, chopped finely

salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Add all the soup ingredients to the base and turkey and bring to the boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and allow the soup to simmer until the vegetables and potatoes are soft. Serve with some nice bread.