TURKEY SOUP WITH PEARL BARLEY

Good Afternoon to you,

As you know, I have lived in Cyprus at various times in my life and I have a very strong affinity with the island.

The time I am going to be talking about is when I was about 6 years old and we lived in a place called Famagusta.  In those days, we, as children, were always able to play outdoors safely because everyone in the street, knew each other, so there was never a problem.

Now I had a friend, who lived along the road from us, and to reach my friends house, I had to walk past a bungalow whose owners had chickens running freely around  the garden.... chickens.... they were no problem, but they also kept a turkey, which also roamed freely around the garden.

Now, as you know, turkeys are much larger than chickens, but I never worried about the turkey, that is until one day, as I walked past the bungalow, the turkey noticed me.  The turkey raised it's head, stared at me and then made a gobbling sound, and with that, started walking and then ended up running towards me..... I think my 'flight or fight' intuition kicked in, because on seeing the turkey running towards me, I ran as fast as I could towards my friends house, and when I arrived, I  looked behind me, to see the turkey was still chasing  me. Luckily my friend had a garden gate and so I was able to run into the garden and close the gate.

So you can imagine, the next time I walked by the bungalow, I was very cautious, I thought I was practically tiptoeing past the bungalow, but no, on that occasion and every subsequent occasion, each time I reached the bungalow, the turkey would see me, and off we would go..... turkey seeing me..... me running....and the turkey chasing me. This went on for quite a while, until one day, suddenly the turkey was not there, it had disappeared. At the time I was so pleased, but being a little girl I only felt relief, I did not realise why the turkey had disappeared...... probably just as well, because even though the turkey frightened the life out of me, I would have been sad to know it had probably been added to a pot for the family meal. 

So every time I roast a turkey, which is usually only at Christmas time, I think about the turkey who terrorised me for so many months, all those years ago.

Now, as I say, I usually only cook turkey at Christmas time, but recently the butcher had some joints of turkey, at a very reasonable price, so I bought one, and made,

this turkey soup with pearl barley and chunky vegetables.  A really hearty, winter's soup..... perfect for Bonfire Night.  

So it's on with the pinnie and the music I am listening to is,

the wonderful soothing voice of Norah Jones.  This is such a lovely album, listen to and enjoy, 

'Sunrise'

'What Am I To You'

and

'Don't Miss You At All'

So whilst I am listening to, 'In the Morning' I will organise my ingredients.

INGREDIENTS

TO 

MAKE

TURKEY SOUP

WITH

PEARL BARLEY

The evening before you are ready to make the

soup.
Place the broth mix in a large bowl
and
cover with water.
Allow the broth mix to

soak overnight.

The following day,
drain the water from the broth mix
and set aside until ready to use.

200g broth mix

250g  turkey joint

8 small waxy potatoes

1 large onion

4 large carrots

2 large parsnips

1 240g tin of tomatoes

2 litres of turkey stock

2 tablespoons of olive oil

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

HOW TO MAKE
TURKEY SOUP 
WITH 
PEARL BARLEY

Cook the turkey joint
in plenty of stock

and

when cooked, place the turkey meat 
on a plate
and
reserve the turkey stock.

Whilst the turkey is cooking,

wash and drain the soaked

broth mix

and

set aside for the moment.

Slice the onions.

Place the olive oil

into

a

large pan

and 

add the onions.

Cook until golden brown.

While the onions are cooking,

peel and chop

 the 

carrots

into chunks.

Peel and chop

the

parsnips 

into chunks.

Peel and chop

the 

potatoes

into chunks.

When the onions are golden in colour,

add the

chopped carrots,

the

chopped parsnips,

and

the

chopped potatoes.

Add
 the 

tomatoes,

the

turkey stock

and

the

broth mix.

Add

half a teaspoon of 

sea salt

and

half a teaspoon of

freshly ground black pepper.

Stir the ingredients.

Place a lid on the pan

and

Bring the soup to the boil

then

reduce to a simmer 

and 

cook for

45 minutes

or 

until the broth mix is thoroughly cooked.

Before serving

check for seasoning

and add a little more

if necessary.

When the turkey joint is cooked,
dice into bite sized pieces.

Decide on the dish

you wish to use,

and

ladle the chunky soup

into the

soup dish.

Add

as much, or as little turkey meat

as you want
and
Enjoy.

I guarantee, that this soup is so filling you will not need any bread to mop up the soup.

If you are not sure what a broth mix is, here in England, it is a mixture of pearl barley (which is delicious), lentils, yellow split peas, green split peas and marrowfat peas, but if these are not available to you, this soup works very well with just pearl barley.

Also the potatoes I used are waxy potatoes, because I did not want the potatoes falling apart in the soup, I wanted them to retain their shape.

You will also notice, that the vegetables are cut much larger than I normally do, because adding chunky vegetables adds a certain 'something' to the soup and as George says, he likes a soup he can 'get his teeth into'.

This is such a healthy soup and each year, at this time of year, we always try to eat healthily, before  the indulgence of Christmas arrives.  This way, we find we really look forward to, and enjoy the richer Christmas foods.

How about you, do you have any healthy pre-Christmas food traditions?

Take care and I will see you on Sunday.

This week I will be joining,

Miz Helen's Country Cottage

and

Natasha in Oz for Say G'Day Saturday
and
21 Rosemary Lane for Share Your Style