Fall 2005 Creamy Turkey Soup with Parsley Dumplings Cranberry-Orange Chutney Farmhouse Pot Pie Easy Baking Mix Homemade Pie Dough Chopped "Cobb" Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing Main Recipe Index

Makes 6 servings

Old-fashioned in all the best ways, this is the kind of soup from which legends are made. One taste will conjure up the image of an iconic American Mom in a ruffled gingham apron. The soup starts out as a broth, but becomes creamy when the dumplings are added. If you wish, add 1/3 cup heavy cream to the broth before adding the dumplings.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 turkey breast with skin and bone, about 2 1/4 pounds (see Note)
1 large onion
2 medium carrots
2 medium celery ribs with leaves
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning or 1/4 teaspoon each dried thyme, sage, rosemary, and marjoram
2 cups Easy Baking Mix or use store-bought biscuit mix
2/3 cup milk
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Prep
Chop onion into 1/2-inch dice. Cut carrots into 1/2-inch dice. Cut celery ribs into 1/2-inch dice; chop leaves.

1. Heat oil in soup pot over medium heat. Add turkey breast, skin-side down, and cook until skin is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from pot. Pour out all but 1 tablespoon fat from pot. Return to medium heat and add onion, carrots, and celery. Cook, stirring often, until vegetables soften, about 5 minutes.
2. Return turkey to pot and add 6 cups water. Bring to a boil, skimming off foam that rises to surface. Stir in poultry seasoning. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until thermometer inserted in thickest part of turkey reads 165°F, about 50 minutes. Transfer turkey to cutting board. Cut meat into bite-sized chunks, discarding skin and bones. Return meat to soup.
3. Mix biscuit mix, milk, and parsley in medium bowl to make sticky dough. Drop by heaping dessertspoons into simmering soup to make 12 dumplings. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Cover tightly and cook until dumplings are cooked through, about 10 minutes more. Serve hot.

Note: To use turkey leftovers, substitute 1 turkey carcass and 3 to 4 cups chopped cooked turkey meat for the the fresh turkey breast. Cook the onion, celery, and carrot in the oil. Add the turkey carcass, broken up into manageable pieces, to half-fill the pot (you may only use half of the carcass). Add the water and simmer for 2 hours. Lift the turkey carcass out of the broth, being careful to not leave any bones in the pot. Stir in the turkey meat. Follow the rest of the recipe for making the dumplings.