Enchilada Turkey Soup

Recipe kindly provided by Manager/Chef Dorian Mills of The Guenther House in San Antonia, Texas.

Recipe Ingredients:

Turkey Stock:
2 cups cold water
10 to 16 ounces turkey parts (wings, legs or thighs)
1 small carrot, peeled and cut in 3 chunks
1 small sweet onion, peeled and quartered
1/2 stalk celery, cut in big chunks

Soup Mixture:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons chopped onion
1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons diced jalapeños
3 ounces corn tortillas, chopped in 1/2-inch lengths
4 ounces tomato purée
4 ounces cheddar cheese sauce
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Dash hot pepper sauce
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2/3 ounces old fashioned biscuit gravy mix
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Cooking Directions:

1. For Turkey Stock: Bring cold water to a boil add turkey parts and all of the vegetables.
2. When the turkey is cooked through, remove it from the stock.
3. Chill and debone turkey. Cover and chill turkey meat.
4. Return bones to stock. Continue to simmer for an additional 20 minutes.
5. Strain bones from the stock and reserve all of the stock. Separate and reserve 2/3 cup stock to be used later.
6. For Soup Mixture: Melt butter over medium heat in a stock pot.
7. Add onions and sauté until translucent.
8. Add garlic, jalapeños and corn tortillas, cook for 2 minutes while stirring.
9. Add 1 1/3 cup strained turkey stock, tomato purée, cheese sauce, lemon juice, hot sauce, chili powder, cumin and dried oregano.
10. In a small sauce pan, bring 1/2 cup of the reserved stock to a boil.
11. Add biscuit gravy mix to the remaining 2 tablespoons reserved stock while it is at room temperature and whisk together. Add the slurry to the boiling stock. Whisk while it is simmering until it has thickened. Add thickened slurry to the soup.
12. Return cooked turkey to the soup and reheat thoroughly. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutritional Information Per Serving (1/4 of recipe): Calories: 350; Total Fat: 23g; Cholesterol: 80mg; Total Carbs: 21g; Protein: 14g; Sodium: 960mg.

Recipe and photograph courtesy of National Turkey Federation.