Post Thanksgiving Turkey Soup (PTTS)

If you want to use up some of your Thanksgiving leftovers, try this recipe for Post-Thanksgiving Turkey Soup (PTTS).

1. Chop up about 3 cups of leftover turkey into a medium dice. If you are in a hurry, you can just tear the meat into bite-size pieces with your hands.
2. Chop 1-2 carrots into bite-size pieces.
3. Finely chop 1 onion.
4. Dice one medium potato or 5-6 red fingerling potatoes (I used red fingerling potatoes in my soup).
5. Roughly chop about one cup of button (or more exotic) mushrooms.
5. Add about 4-6 cups of chicken broth and 2 cups of water to a crock pot or large pot. If you have a turkey carcass, you could create some turkey stock by simmering the carcass for 3-4 hours in a gallon or so of water (don't let it boil) with some roughly chopped onion, celery, carrots, and garlic (3 cloves), about 10 black peppercorns, and some herbs (I used some sage leaves and fresh thyme). There are more complex stock formulas, but this mixture worked very well.
6. Turn the crock pot on high or your stove to medium low and add the chopped/diced vegetables and the chopped turkey.
7. Add about 1 cup of wild rice to the turkey/vegetable mixture.
8. To liven the flavor up, I added two turkey necks that I didn't use the night before and two wing bones to the mixture.
8. Heat the soup mixture on high (if you are using a crockpot) for about 3-4 hours or simmer for 1-2 hours if you are using the burner on a range.