There is something therapeutic about chopping vegetables up for soup. Peeling potatoes with a really good peeler that is comfortable in the hand is one of life’s little pleasures. Cutting up carrots, celery, and onions reminds me of home and family. Even though our children are grown, I can easily remember all the years they were growing up when I’m making a big pot of soup.
I was excited to receive a Fall Harvest Kit from Cutco Cutlery in the mail last week because we have used Cutco knives for over 30 years. My first set was a wedding gift from my brother, and we use them every day. Once our children grew too old for toys, we gifted a Cutco knife each Christmas so they could build a set of their own during their college years. Quality knives that are sharp and ergonomically designed are a pleasure to use and a wonderful investment for any family. It’s a delight to share my love of Cutco with you.
Cutco is sponsoring a Fall Harvest food blogger event, and those of us who are participating are creating recipes with the kit they sent us. If you go to their Fall Harvest page, you can enter to win the same kit that they sent to the food bloggers…so don’t forget to do that! Included in the kit is a Petite Chef knife (one of my favorites), a special Cutco cutting board, and their wonderful vegetable peeler with the comfort grip handle.
I decided to make a hearty turkey soup with onions, celery, carrots, and potatoes. Our family loves soup, especially when the weather changes and cold season begins.
I started with two turkey thighs and cooked them the day before I made the soup. After cutting up the veggies, I sautéed the onions, celery, and carrots in a little bacon fat. I chopped up some of the carrot tops for the soup too…did you know they’re good to eat?
When the onions are beginning to brown, I combined the vegetables with the turkey meat in a large stock pot. There is always chicken and vegetable stock in my pantry…I buy the low sodium broth so I can control the amount of salt that we get in our food. This time I added a quart of chicken stock and a quart of vegetable broth to the pot, plus rosemary, thyme, sage, bay leaf, and some pepper. The kitchen fills with the aroma of turkey … reminding us that Thanksgiving will be here before we know it!
When I serve the soup I use the original Cutco ladle that came with our very first set of Cutco. I wonder how many pots of soup we have ladled over the years with the same tool? Lots of memories there…and we’re making new memories now! Our youngest daughter walked in just about the time the soup was finished. She’s fighting a head cold and found out I was making turkey soup…so she drove home from college to spend the weekend. We’re always happy to have more people around the table to share homemade soup!
Turkey Vegetable Soup Recipe
Ingredients
4 stalks celery, chopped
5 carrots, chopped
1/2 cup carrot tops, chopped (optional)
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons bacon fat (or olive oil)
2 cups cooked turkey meat
2 quarts of vegetable stock or chicken stock
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon drived rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon ground pepper
add salt, if desired, to taste
fresh sliced avocado (optional)
Directions
Sautee the vegetables in the bacon fat (or olive oil). Combine the cooked vegetables with stock, turkey, and seasonings. Add the potatoes, bring to a boil and simmer for about 30 minutes. Taste the soup and add more salt if desired. Serve hot with sliced avocado on the side.
Disclosure: I received a Cutco Fall Harvest prep kit as a gift from Cutco Cutlery, including the Petite Chef knife and peeler that I used to make the soup for this post. I was not paid for this post and all opinions and experiences are my own.