turning boneless, skinless turkey breast into soup

[adina]

Before Thanksgiving I mistakenly bought a boneless, skinless turkey breast. I froze it and bought my regular 1/2 split breast with bones/skin. I normally roast the turkey and make a great soup out of the leftovers. Can I do that with this turkey? Keep in mind that my main goal is lots of soup. Thanks.

[midtown diner]

Not good for soup but great for all sorts of other things. First try making a couple of turkey pot pies. White boneless/skinless turkey is a great cut of turkey for pot pie. How about some turkey cutlets. Bread and fry for sandwiches, salads, parmigiana .... Next you can stuff and roll turkey cutlets with spinach, cheese, hams (procuitto, swiss, feta), mushrooms... Roll around fillings and tie with cotton string. Saute in olive oil or butter and braise by adding a little white wine. Don't over cook! Good luck but forget soup. Did I forget the turkey tetrazini? Old fashioned recipe but good.

[scott123]

Bones add very little flavor to stock. They add some body, but not as much as skin. If you could get some skin or cartilage, that would be ideal.

[missclaudy]

Necks,wings and backs are great for soup. Never make poultry stock with breasts, they turn into sawdust and don't add much flavor.

[scott123]

Wings, with a very high ratio of skin to meat/bones are phenomenal for soup. Necks add plenty of flavor, but, imo, the flavor can be a bit on the gamey side. I'm not a big fan of the taste necks lend to stocks. It's not quite as intense/gamey as gizzards, but it's still a little too gamey for me. Backs, being bones, are not ideal, as I mentioned before. They are cheap, though, so if you can get a ton of them, you might be able to get past their shortcomings. Nothing is better than skin, though.

[adina]

Do you think I could slice it semi-defrosted (easier) or should I fully defrost it?

[hotoynoodle]

partially thawed is easier to slice, but will add still more unflavored water to the soup.

a trick in asian cooking is to add the raw protein to cold stock for a clearer broth.

[hotoynoodle]

i'd make the bone/veg stock, but then just slice the breast, add it to the stockpot and let it poach. it will stay very tender, absorb alot more flavor, and you'll have one less thing to clean up!

[adina]

Thanks for your replies. I'm thinking that I'll roast it as is, make a vegetable/turkey bone stock and once that's done I'll the turkey breast into it along with my other turkey soup ingredients.

[cayjohan]

Or, consider making a nice vegetable stock. Make a mirepoix (HEAVY on the onions) and brown in fat (if you have some bacon fat saved, this is wonderful). Add additional aromatics, to taste, once this is browned. Add more veg (whatever you have that needs a soup pot versus a fridge for a home), water to cover, and simmer. Once all the flavor you can get is out of the veg, strain, and reduce as much as you need to. Veg. stock, ready for new fresh vegies for your soup, your turkey, and whatever noodle you might want to add.

[cayjohan]

But I agree with torty on the neck bones - if you can get these at your market (they're cheap), you can make a much richer stock.

[torty]

In my opinion you would need to add some bones (turkey necks etc) in order to get a tasty soup. Personally, I would poach the breast and then package it up for future use- some for chicken salad, some to drop into a good soup, some to add proetin to a pasta dish, etc