Cream of Turkey Soup with Fennel and Apple

Thanksgiving Day was Thursday and the house held twenty-two adults and seven children and was exactly full, which is the correct number of people for a house to hold on Thanksgiving. My mother and father arrived first, which they always do. Gary carried the rolls, which is his annual assignment and which he executes with the gravity of someone carrying something important, which he is. Denise brought her Jell-O salad in the container she has used for forty years, a pale green Tupperware that is older than my marriage, that has been at every Thanksgiving of my life, and whose continued existence is either remarkable or a tribute to Tupperware's warranty.

The turkey was twenty-two pounds. It went in at seven in the morning and came out at three. I basted it every forty-five minutes, which is not strictly necessary and which my cooking instinct has told me three times is not strictly necessary, but I baste it every forty-five minutes anyway because Denise basted every forty-five minutes and some things are not changed because they work. The gravy passed between rooms without incident. The rolls were everything Denise's rolls have always been. The pumpkin pie, from scratch, with the frozen shells, came out so well that Tyler asked for the recipe and I told him there was no recipe, it was in the pie, and he looked at me like he was not sure if I was being poetic or withholding, and the answer is both.

At the end of the day, after everyone had gone, after Brandon had done the dishes and the kids were in various states of food-sleep on the couch, I sat at the kitchen table with a cup of tea and looked at Grace's photo above the stove and said: we fed everyone. Hi, baby. We fed everyone and they were all here and they were all full and the house held. This is what I know how to do. She would have had mashed potatoes. She would have made a mess of them. The table would have been better for it.

A twenty-two-pound turkey feeds twenty-two adults and seven children on Thursday, and then on Friday it feeds you. After the dishes were done and the Tupperware was back with Denise and the house was just ours again, I pulled what was left off the bone and made this soup—fennel and apple and cream, the kind of thing that fills a quiet kitchen the way a full table filled it the day before. This is what the turkey becomes when the giving isn’t finished yet.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 40 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour | Servings: 8

Ingredients

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large fennel bulb, cored and diced (fronds reserved for garnish)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and diced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups turkey or chicken stock
3 cups cooked turkey meat, shredded or chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Instructions

Cook the aromatics. Melt butter in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat. Add the fennel, onion, and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and just beginning to turn golden, about 8–10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Add the apples. Stir in the diced apples and cook until they begin to soften, about 3–4 minutes.
Build the base. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir constantly for 2 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste. Slowly pour in the turkey stock, stirring as you go to prevent lumps. Add the thyme, bay leaf, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
Simmer. Bring the soup to a gentle boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fennel and apples are very tender and the broth has thickened slightly.
Add turkey and cream. Remove the bay leaf. Stir in the shredded turkey and heavy cream. Cook over low heat for 5–7 minutes until heated through. Stir in the apple cider vinegar.
Season and serve. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Ladle into bowls and garnish with reserved fennel fronds.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cream of Turkey Soup with Fennel and Apple — What the House Held