Tuesday, December 4, 2012

December 2, 2012 Turkey and Dumpling Soup and Turkey Salad

December 2, 2012 Turkey and Dumpling Soup and Turkey Salad

There comes a time after Thanksgiving when one can no longer stand to see all that leftover turkey and one finally bites the bullet and converts it into more or less creative dishes.  We reached that point on Sunday December, with the prospect of lots of Christmas cooking ahead of us, Suzette, dragged in the large pot of turkey broth we had made with a mirepoix (carrots, onions and celery) and herbs from the garden and meat stripped from the turkey carcass, cooked into a thick stock after Thanksgiving and I took the bags of PPI white meat and dark meat plus mayonnaise and pickle relish from the fridge.
While Suzette made her noodle dough, I minced two stalks of celery and two carrots and ½ onion and we heated and then strained the broth to separate the liquid from the meat and we then put the freshly minced celery, onion and carrots into the broth and I began picking through the solid scraps remaining from the broth to remove as much of the meat from the bones and fat as possible. I accumulated about three cups of meat, which we put into the broth also.  Then Suzette rolled out the noodle dough cough and cut it into strips and then squares and I stirred the broth as she put the squares of dough into the broth and we cooked the pot of Turkey and dumpling soup for about another ten minutes to cook the noodles (dumplings).   I poured out the last of the Handley Sauvignon Blanc and we had a bowl of soup and a small glass of lovely white wine for dinner.

Suzette then chopped up the sliced turkey in the Cuisinart and added mayonnaise and pickle relish and made a large bowl of turkey salad.
Earlier on Sunday morning we went to Santa Fe with Willy and met Amy for lunch at Cowgirls on Guadalupe a little before noon.  The day was clear and warm, so we sat outside on the patio.  I like Cowgirls, because the menu is diverse and offers a wide range of choices from semi-elegant, like pear and arugula salad and corn beef hash with poached eggs and Hollandaise Sauce to down scale comfort food, like Mexican food, hamburgers and BBQ.  Suzette ate the corn beef hash and poached eggs special from the Sunday Brunch portion of the menu.  I ate a red pear salad with candied pecans and arugula from the Autumn Menu, Amy had Huevos Rancheros with green chili, fried potatoes and black beans from the Sunday Brunch menu and Willy ordered a BBQ brisket plate from the regular menu.  Willy and I had ordered other items but they were not available so we changed without any aggravation.   The girls ordered Bloody Mary’s that were brought a few minutes after 12:00 noon.  

After lunch Amy went back home and we then went to the Fine Arts museum and the History Museum.  The Fine Arts Museum was celebrating New Mexico’s Centennial by mounting an Exhibit of 14,000 years of New Mexico Art, ranging from beautiful 14,000 year old Clovis points to Modern art, such as a recent piece of fused glass by Judy Chicago.   I was surprised to see two Kenneth Chapman watercolors.  Both were renderings; one of the School of Anthropology on Museum Hill and the other of the Fine Arts Museum in which we were standing.  I do not know if Chapman took a role in the design of the museums or simply served as draftsman of the renderings, but it was great to see the prominence with which his contributions were treated.   Upstairs was a traveling show of fused colored glass, called Chromatic Fusions that was interesting, also.
We then walked over to the History Museum to see the Ronald Woodman photos.  There was a great wide angle shoot from the top of Tome Hill showing the long line of pilgrims trekking up Tome Hill and the entire Rio Grande Valley around Tome and Los Lunas.  We tried to identify Suzette’s facility, but could not.  The History Museum also had an exhibit of religious art including a recent handmade Bible and a number of photographs of the religious diversity of New Mexico from Moradas to Buddhist Monasteries.  

We then walked to the Sweeney Convention Center and saw the Spanish Winter Market and then drove to the Railyard and walked through the indoor Flea, while Willy went to REI.
After dropping Willy off at Amy’s in El Dorado we drove home and began to put together the turkey dishes described above.

Bon Appétit

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