Turkey Scotch Broth is a Snap In The Instant Pot

I love me some turkey scotch broth almost as much as I love a big turkey dinner. I have shared my usual method for making soup after turkey dinner here , but, as much as I love it, what I HATE about making it is the process. I either have to find room in my fridge for the turkey carcass or I'm forced to make stock right after dinner. Once I clean up the disaster in the kitchen (my kitchen looks like a tornado went through it after a turkey dinner) and let it simmer for a few hours it's way past this woman's bed time. But that's not the end either because I have to stay awake long enough to let it cool down sufficiently to refrigerate it only to find that there is no room for it in there anyway. All that and I still have to make the actual soup!

No wonder people buy Campbell's and call it a day.


So, this Instant Pot that I have been given has changed the game people. Right after dinner I broke down the bones, shoved them in the pot, added in all of the vegetable scraps that I had been squirreling away in a big bowl, covered it with water and within one hour, I was staring at a steaming vat of delicious turkey broth with plenty of time to cool it down (okay, even the magical Instant Pot can't find room in the fridge for it but that is a universal dilemma). Or, better yet, strain the stock, put it back in the pot with the soup ingredients and in another hour, BAM
You have turkey soup in less time than it used to take just to make the stock and because it's an electric pressure cooker, I didn't have to babysit it, it didn't blow up and nobody died.

God, I love this thing.

I made this Vegan Jackfruit Pozole using the pressure cooker and from the making of the vegetable stock, the cooking of the dried hominy to the finished soup, it was, once again, done in the time needed just to make the stock on the stove top.

freeze stock in muffin tins (1/2 cup portions)

A fun extra bonus: You can make this with frozen stock! I made one batch straight after turkey dinner but I made a second batch with the frozen stock and turkey leftover from Thanksgiving too. I was waiting for the stock to defrost when I realized that I didn't have to do that. I dumped the partially defrosted stock and turkey into the pot and added in the vegetables and herbs, popped on the lid and still had hot, delicious soup in just under an hour.

then vacuum seal the pucks of stock for the freezer

GENIUS I TELL YOU

you don't even have to defrost your ingredients - come on, shut the front door

Of course, you can make this soup without the Instant Pot and do it in a pot on the stove but you will have to add a couple of hours to the stock making and then another hour to the soup making part but the ingredients are all the same.

If you are new to pressure cooking, like me, check out this website for a wealth of information, instructions, recipes, tips Hip Pressure Cooking

Pressure Cooker Turkey Scotch Broth

makes about 4 litres

Ingredients:
*2 quarts of turkey stock
2 cups shredded turkey
3 turnip, peeled and small dice (approx 1 3/4 cup)
2 carrots, small dice (approx 2 cups)
about 2 cups potato, small dice
1 leek, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup pearl barley
handful of fresh parsley,
approx 2 tbls each fresh thyme, sage and rosemary
1 tsp kosher salt or to taste
few grinds of black pepper

*Turkey Stock:

1 small turkey carcass (approx 14 lb turkey)
approx 2 cups vegetable and herb scraps from your turkey dinner (thyme, rosemary, carrot, onion w/skins, celery, leek etc)
a clove or two of garlic
approx 3 quarts water
kosher salt and fresh pepper

Break up the turkey carcass and put it in the pressure cooker along with the garlic and vegetable scraps. I used a combination of carrot, leek, onion with skins, celery, fennel and some fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, sage, marjoram etc. When you are cooking your turkey dinner, don't throw any vegetable peels, ends of carrots etc out. I even through in a bit of stuffing if there is any left.
Add some salt and pepper

Fill the pot with cold water until it is 3/4 full (don't worry if it doesn't cover all of the contents). Close the lid, making sure the vent is on seal and press the soup button.

Walk away. It will take about 20 minutes to get to pressure because it's so full, 20 minutes to cook and another 15 to 20 minutes for the pressure to come back down after before you can open it so budget an hour (this is called NPR, natural pressure release).

When the pressure has come back down, carefully open the vent to get rid of any left over steam and open the lid. Strain out all of the solids and once they cool down, pick through them and set aside all of the turkey meat that you get off the bones.

To make the soup:

Put the broth back in the pot (you should get about 2 quarts but don't use much more than that or the pot will be too full)

Now, add in the rest of the ingredients, close the pot and hit the soup button again (20 minutes). Let it depressurize for at least 15 minutes when it's done (NPR or natural pressure release), opening the vent before you open it up just to be sure and then taste and add salt if needed.