Last Thursday night, one of the guys told me that I made the best soup in the U.S. I told him that I wouldn’t know, because I haven’t gotten around that much to sample soup. He assured me that he had and that mine was the best in the U.S. With humble pride, I will accept his assessment.

Now you probably want a recipe. Well, I can’t remember that far back, but maybe I can give you the recipe for the soup I made on Tuesday. I started at 7AM. I placed a seventeen pound turkey into a large roasting pan and filled the pan up with water. I placed the lid on and roasted it at 350 degrees for almost four hours. (It was in a semi-frozen state when I started, and I don’t just mean the state of Pennsylvania.) I drained the broth from the roaster pan into my 22 quart double boiler set up and let the turkey cool for a bit. While that was cooling, I added a handful of Greek oregano into the broth, and chopped and added vegetables to the pot. I kept the water in the outer pan pretty high and the heat on the burner set to high. I added one pound of carrots, about a half a celery root, about three pounds of russet potatoes (leaving the skins on), six eight inch tall stalks of broccoli, one large head of cauliflower, four entire leeks, three large, red, sweet peppers, a big bunch of cilantro (stems and all), a baby bok choi and a yucca root (peeled). By then the turkey had cooled sufficiently that I could start tearing it off the bones and throwing into the pot, which I did.

The yucca root was an impulse buy. It was sitting all lonely in the middle of a table of greens at Produce Junction, with no label or price. I snatched it and took it to the check out. I asked the girl what it was. She told me it was a yucca root. I asked if yucca root was any good. She said she didn’t know. I asked how much they cost. She said $1.75 for two. I said, you only have one. She said $1 then. So I Googled yucca root. It turns out it is also called manioc and is the source of tapioca. It can be toxic unless the waxy skin is removed and it is cooked thoroughly. They are a good source of vitamins C, B & A, and phosphorus, potassium and iron. They are a natural anti-inflammatory and promote colon health.

I let the soup cook for several more hours. I added a couple of quarts of boiling water. I then added about three tablespoons of granulated garlic, about a tablespoon of parsley flakes, two tablespoons of ground sage, three tablespoons of salt and twenty-one twists at medium grind of mixed peppercorns from the grinder. The pot was full to the top.

When it was time to leave for Philadelphia, I dumped the soup into the Igloo cooler and loaded into the back of the TKJ-mobile. It was piping hot, when we served it an hour and a half later. The guys told me that it was “all that!” I think that means that it was bumpin’.

Ingredients:

• 1   small turkey (~11 pounds) baked in a roasting pan with about three inches of water
• 2   huge bunches of beet greens, roughly cut
• 2   6#-12 oz. cans of small white potatoes, roughly cut in the can
• 2   cans sliced carrots
• 2   cans corn
• 1/3 cup dried oregano from last year’s garden
• 2   large white onions, diced
• 3   cloves garlic pressed
• 10  twists of black pepper from the mill
• 2   Tablespoons salt
• water

Directions:

• Pour the turkey broth from the roasting pan into a 22 quart stock pot, which is sitting inside an even larger stock pot with a rag in the bottom and a few inches of water in it. (This forms a giant double boiler.) Place it on the burner on medium heat. Let the turkey cool for awhile.
• Wash and cut the beet green and through them into the pot.
• Add the onions, garlic, oregano, salt, potatoes, corn and carrots
• After turkey is cool  enough to handle, tear the skin off and discard. Tear the meat off the bones, tearing it into pieces into the pot. Rinse out the roasting pan with hot water and pour it into the pot. Add enough hot water to to the pot so it is full, but not so full that you can’t stir it.
• Let it cook for 4 or 5 hours, stirring occasionally. Make sure that the outer kettle does not run out of water.
• Add the pepper and stir it in.
• Pour it into an Igloo cube cooler. (All other brands melt).

Taking it to the street. I always bring a large bottle of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce. We’ll see how the guys like the soup, by how much hot sauce they think it needs.

You’ve heard that platitude: “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!” Well, last week someone gave me a big bag of wonderful, crusty bread rolls. We can’t give them away on the street, because too many people don’t have good teeth to eat them. They end up being fed to the squirrels and pigeons and attracting rats. What to do?

I roasted a turkey Thursday morning with the intention of making turkey vegetable soup. Around noon, I started making stuffing with the bread. I simmered minced onions and celery, melted butter; added sage, cilantro and salt; and started tearing up the rolls and throwing them in. I filled the ten quart pan this way making savory stuffing. Then I got to thinking. How am I going to keep this hot ? How am I going to serve it? What else am I going to put in the soup?

I added green beans, corn, mixed vegetables and garlic to the soup pot with the turkey meat and broth. Then I dumped in the stuffing. I usually don’t try the soup, but I was a little worried about this concoction, so I had a half cup and made Bethann try it, too. It was fantastic!

We didn’t have a super huge crowd on the street, so I was hoping for leftovers. No such luck. They kept coming back for more until it was all gone.