Turkey Hominy Soup

Abuela Rosa left Sunday after Thanksgiving. Terry drove her back to McAlester and came home alone, and by Monday the house in Turley had settled back into its regular weight, which is the weight of two people and the particular silence of a house where one of them breathes with a machine. I stopped by Monday evening and Terry was in the kitchen making a big pot of caldo de res — beef broth with vegetables, the soup you make when you are processing a visit, when you need something that takes a long time and smells like someone is taking care of things.

She did not say she was sad Rosa had left. Terry does not say those things directly. She makes soup and she gets on with it, which is not the same as not feeling it. She has been doing that her whole life — getting on with it in the kitchen while the feeling moves through her and out the other side.

I had leftover smoked turkey carcass from Thanksgiving, so I made turkey soup Friday. Crack the carcass, cover it with water, simmer for two hours, strain the broth, add whatever vegetables need using — celery, carrots, half an onion, a cup of dried hominy I had soaking since Thursday. The hominy turns the turkey soup into something that belongs to this specific part of the world. Regular turkey soup is fine. Turkey soup with hominy is Oklahoma, which is Cherokee, which is what my table is made of.

Danny asked for some when I brought a container to Terry's Saturday. He ate it sitting up in his recliner, bowl in his lap, one spoonful at a time. He said the hominy was a good idea. I said Hannah had the idea. He nodded like he had expected that. "She always has the good ideas," he said. He is not wrong.

The week after Thanksgiving is its own particular season — the decorations going up in store windows, the year visibly ending, the cold arriving with intent now rather than suggestion. I am thirty-one days away from a new year and I am trying to notice what I have instead of what I have lost. The notebook of what I have is longer. It should be longer. I am going to keep writing in it.

This is the recipe I made the Friday after Thanksgiving, the one Danny said was a good idea and then credited to Hannah, which is exactly right. If you have a smoked turkey carcass in your refrigerator and a cup of dried hominy you thought to soak the night before, this is what you make — not because it is complicated or impressive, but because the hominy changes the whole character of the broth and turns ordinary turkey soup into something that tastes like it grew up here. Make the broth low and slow. Let the hominy do what hominy does.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 2 hr 45 min | Total Time: 3 hr | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 smoked turkey carcass (or 2–3 lbs bone-in smoked turkey pieces)
10 cups cold water
1 cup dried hominy, soaked overnight and drained (or one 25 oz can hominy, drained and rinsed)
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into coins
3 stalks celery, sliced
1/2 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 bay leaf
1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
2 cups pulled or shredded turkey meat (reserved from carcass after simmering)
Fresh cilantro or flat-leaf parsley, for serving (optional)

Instructions

Make the broth. Place the turkey carcass in a large stockpot. Add the cold water, half the onion, 2 smashed garlic cloves, and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a low simmer. Cook uncovered for 2 hours, skimming foam from the surface as needed.
Strain and pull. Remove the carcass and set it on a cutting board to cool slightly. Pour the broth through a fine-mesh strainer into a large bowl or second pot, discarding the spent solids. When the carcass is cool enough to handle, pull any remaining meat from the bones and set aside. Discard bones.
Simmer the hominy. Return the strained broth to the pot over medium heat. Add the soaked, drained dried hominy (if using canned, add it later with the vegetables). Simmer for 30 minutes, until the hominy begins to soften and bloom slightly at the edges.
Add the vegetables. Add the carrots, celery, remaining onion, remaining 2 garlic cloves, salt, pepper, oregano, and smoked paprika. If using canned hominy, add it now. Simmer for 20–25 minutes, until the carrots are just tender and the hominy is fully cooked through — soft with a slight chew at the center.
Finish with turkey meat. Stir in the pulled turkey meat. Taste and adjust salt. Simmer 5 more minutes to bring it all together.
Serve. Ladle into bowls. Finish with fresh cilantro or parsley if you have it. It keeps well in the refrigerator for five days and is better the second day.

Nutrition (per serving)

Turkey Hominy Soup — The Soup That Belongs to This Part of the World