Turkey Posole Soup

I have an old cookbook called Half a Can of Tomato Paste and Other Culinary Dilemmas. It's one of my favorites because it has recipes for using up little bits of this and that. Like a cup of milk or half a can of tomato paste (something I don't have to deal with much now since tomato paste started coming in squeeze tubes). It was published in 1980 and the culinary world has changed quite a bit since then. This recipe for turkey soup was inspired by that book - using up leftovers in an interesting way.

Back in the day, everyone had a bottle of ketchup in the fridge for who-knows-how-long. Now, it's a jar of salsa. This recipe is a good place to use up that old red or green salsa. Any brand you like will do but I like green salsa best.

Posole is dried corn, commonly used in the Southwest. The kernels are whole. It was a wonderful corn flavor and a chewy texture. You can find it dried or easier still, rehydrated in cans. The canned posole makes this soup soup-er fast.

Though this is a turkey soup - because I had leftover Thanksgiving turkey in the freezer along with homemade turkey stock - you could make this with cooked chicken and commercial chicken stock for an even easier version.

Turkey Posole Soup
(serves 6)

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, sliced into thin half moons
3 stalks celery, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed in your palm
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ to 1 cup green or red salsa
8 cups turkey or chicken stock
1 pound 9 oz can posole, drained
2 cups chopped turkey meat
salt (may not need any if using commercial stock)

Possible Garnish
chopped avocado
crushed tortilla chips
grated jack or cheddar cheese

Heat up the oil in large soup pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes, until translucent. Add carrots, celery, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper. Stir around and cook for a few more minutes. Add the salsa, turkey stock, posole, and turkey meat. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer. Cook for 30 minutes, until carrots are tender. Taste for salt; add more if necessary. Serve with your choice of garnish on top.

Spicy Tomato Sauce - the Mexican version

Cinco de Mayo is coming up on Sunday. Time to break out the margaritas! I'll be posting a chicken recipe before then that uses this tomato sauce. This sauce is similar to Indian version - amazingly similar, in fact! The difference is this sauce includes roasted New Mexican green chiles as well as a hot green chile but no ginger. You can use mild or medium green chiles, or a mix. Medium green chiles have a pretty good kick; if you don't want your sauce too spicy, use a 4 oz. can of each kind.

Like the Indian version, it's adaptable to many recipes: use on enchiladas (see our recipe for chicken enchiladas and sub this sauce for the green chile sauce), sub it for the tomato sauce and Mexican tomatoes in our chilaquiles, or pour over grilled fish or shrimp.

Spicy Tomato Sauce - Mexican version
(makes about 4 cups, costs $5)

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
7 - 8 ounces diced green chiles (mild or medium or a mix)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 - 2 Tablespoon minced seeded jalapeño chile
2 Tablespoons dried minced onion
26 - 28 ounces tomato puree or chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium. Add garlic, green chiles, ground cumin, and jalapeño chile. Saute for a few minutes, stirring. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 20-30 minutes.