Turtle/Mock Turtle Soup.....

[NoNoNanette]

Hey gang....

All of this discussion has my mouth watering. I'm confident that if I had a recipe using veal or beef, I wouldn't hesitate to try this at home.

Did a Google search, and nothing grabbed me..... some even called for chicken. :confused:

Love the Turtle Soup at Commanders..... a little blast of sherry upon serving. In the past, also enjoyed at Broussard's and Bombay Club..... a dark brown base.... probably veal, as it wasn't cubed, but crumbled.

Anybody have recipes they can cut and paste?

TIA:)

[cstoehr]

I will look tonight and bring my cookbook from Commanders with me tomorrow, I think it is in there. If I can do it correctly I will scan it and paste it...if not I will type it up.

[Admin]

This may be the same:

http://www.commanderspalace.com/destin/recipes.php?detail=1&from=5&title=Turtle+Soup

[cstoehr]

Probably is, it looks similar. Hmmm...why didn't I think to look. :p

I remembered a few years ago when we got the book, wowza...there are 2 and 3 page recipes in here.....I do not see myself making much out of that book! The shorter the better for me!!

[NoNoNanette]

Thanks, guys..... that recipe looks a bit daunting, though :o

Never would have thought of spinach in there. Anybody know what "concassée" tomatoes are? Crushed or pureed, perhaps?

[Admin]

"Classic French preparation of skinned, deseeded tomato pulp finely chopped."

Read: 1/4" dice.

[NoNoNanette]

"Classic French preparation of skinned, deseeded tomato pulp finely chopped."

Read: 1/4" dice.

Thanks, boss! ;)

[JudiB]

Nanette, this note of yours sent me on a quest through all my folders of printed out recipes, and favorite cookbooks. :)

I made a mock turtle soup a few years ago that was just delicious, using round steak. I can't seem to find the recipe, but I'm not done looking. The only one I stored on my computer, (which means I have it on my website - which usually means I've tried it... or it looks so good that I want to try it...) is this one:
(but I know I have never made it with actual turtle meat and for sure I've never used one cup of bacon fat in ANYTHING!)


Turtle Soup

Mike Baskind is the chef at the Rivershack. He was featured on the show Diners, Drive In's and Dives with that guy, Guy. One of the dishes he served was Turtle soup. Well the Food Network has posted his recipe fo it. Here it is and keep in mind, it calls for a cup of bacon fat!:


http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/diners-drive-ins-and-dives/sherried-turtle-soup-recipe/index.html


1 cup bacon fat
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 pound turtle meat (see your seafood specialty store), silver skin removed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 pound ground beef
1 cup chopped bell pepper
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 cup diced canned tomatoes
4 hard boiled eggs, peeled and diced
3 cups chopped baby spinach
2 cups white wine
1 cup cream sherry (plus more to finish soup table side)
2 cups chicken, pork or beef stock (or broth)
4 tablespoons hot sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
4 large bay leaves
6 lemons
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons chopped green onions
3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
Sherry and lemon wedges, for garnish

For the roux:


Take 1/2 cup of the bacon fat and in a thick-bottomed pan cook the flour slowly stirring constantly to a brownish-brick red color. Set aside carefully and cool.

For the Soup:

In a thick-bottomed pot, heat the remaining bacon fat and brown the turtle meat and ground beef thoroughly. Add the bell pepper, celery, onions and garlic and sweat until translucent. Add the tomatoes, eggs, spinach, wine, sherry, stock, hot sauce, Worcestershire and bay leaves and simmer 1 1/2 hours.
Using a microplane and cut-resistant gloves, remove the yellow zest from the lemons avoiding the white pith; add to the soup. Cut the zested lemons and squeeze juice into the soup.

In a bowl, add the cooled roux, then ladle some of hot soup into the bowl whisking with a wire whip until a smooth paste is formed; add one more ladle to the bowl, then add the contents back to the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper and simmer for 1 hour.

Note: this soup is best the next day; if doing so, cool the soup as quickly as possible and reheat slowly when you wish to serve it.

Before serving, remove bay leaves.

[NoNoNanette]

Hi Judi-

You're a doll! :)

The roundsteak version sounds great...... if you run across it, I'd love to see it.

I'm sounding like a real sissy, but the spinach and the bacon fat intimidate me! ;)

Thanks.

[Pete]

Nanette, I use ground veal for "turtle soup" and it always turns out great. The trick is to season it with the right combination of cloves, allspice, and mace. That gives it a gamey flavor that tastes like it comes from the meat instead of the seasoning. I don't have the recipe handy, but I always use the one in The New Orleans Cookbook by Richard Collin. Buy that book right away if you don't already have it. I make a few adjustments to the recipe, though. I use half the cloves and allspice called for. I also throw in a small green bell pepper, chopped. And I use beef stock instead of water. Sometimes I put a couple boiled eggs (chopped up) in the pot. You'll be surprised how much it looks and tastes like the turtle soup at Mandina's. One thing to keep in mind, though is that this is a fairly thin turtle soup. If you cook it down until it's thick, the mace will be too strong. If you really want to do it on the cheap you could use lean beef instead of veal. That's what Mandina's uses and they probably sell more "turtle soup" to locals than any other restaurant in town.

[NoNoNanette]

Thanks, Pete- I'll grab that cookbook.

Think for the first time, I'll go cheapo with beef. If that works out, I'll perfect it with veal.

I'm saving this entire thread. Thanks again, guys.

[JudiB]

Nan, I'm upset that I can't find that recipe... I know it's here someplace, and I haven't given up! LOL as a matter of fact, I'm determined to make some tonight. Gosh I love that stuff. And I LOVE the dish at Mandina's... so if Pete recommends that recipe, I'd give it a try!

I did a google search and it's ridiculous the stuff that's out there, lol.

But I did find this recipe that is very similar to the one I used, except for this business of making the roux separate... then whisking it in at the end. That's not possible, as we all know. That roux would be a burned, charred mess if you did it in that order. If you use this one, just brown your roux and at the right moment, throw in the vegetables to saute'.

http://www.nolacuisine.com/2005/10/20/creole-turtle-soup-recipe/

[NoNoNanette]

Judi- I just spent about an hour on that site. Wow!

Just took a couple of chicken breasts out of the freezer.... I'm going to incorporate a couple/few of the recipes from the New Orleans Chicken Dishes page:

http://www.nolacuisine.com/category/recipes/new-orleans-chicken-dishes/

Great site. I know what I'll be doing tomorrow. If I have great success, I'll post my finished product. :)

[JudiB]

Oh wow Nanette, I'm so glad you mentioned that... lol... I was in a hurry this morning and didn't even check out the site. oh WOW. My mouth is watering now for some chicken dishes. Thanks!! :)

[NoNoNanette]

I like how the cook does the potatoes in the oven, rather than fried in some of those. I've got leftover ham from Christmas, tasso, plenty of potatoes, mushrooms, wine.... I'm gonna go wild. :)

[JudiB]

Nannette, I made it yesterday. I can't claim that it tasted as good as Mandina's, but it sure was delicious. :) And - NO bacon fat. lol

I’ve made this before, and for the life of me, can’t find the recipe I used. As I do often, when cooking something new, I will open up all my cookbooks, find recipes that appeal to me, then take a little something from each.

The only cookbook I have that has a recipe for Mock Turtle Soup is the Entergy cookbook.

I kept in mind the spices cloves, mace and allspice as Pete suggested, creating the ‘gamey’ flavor, but I used them sparingly.

Here’s what I did. I thinly sliced a lean round steak. I made a light roux, about ½ C of flour and less-than-that oil, I sautéed a really large onion, about half a bell pepper, two stalks of celery and three large toes of garlic, minced. I browned the meat then added a small can of seasoned chopped tomatoes. I splashed worstershire, crystal, added a sprig, (large sprig with about four stems on it) of fresh thyme, three bay leaves, a half a lemon squeezed and thrown in, a lot of water, and four beef bouillon cubes. As I said before, I added ground cloves, alspice, and mace... very sparingly. And of course, salt and pepper throughout the process.

I let it simmer for a few hours, until the meat was very tender, then splashed in some cream sherry, (into the whole pot). I boiled and chopped two eggs to add at the end.

I’m pretty sure that’s all the ingredients I used. It was deeeelicious. Of course it helped that I bought the meat at WholePayCheck. Seriously – their beef is outstanding.

[NoNoNanette]

Yum! I'm going to make it next weekend. :)

Judi, I'm 48 years old and have NEVER cooked with mace. Should I pick some up for this, or just blow it off? :confused:

[NoNoNanette]

Oh, Christ! I wish that you guys could smell my kitchen! This soup is going to be out of this world.... (used a pound of ground pork, and a little over a pound of some Black Angus boneless short ribs that I had in the freezer....diced 'em up really small).

This one is definately a keeper! Thanks everybody for your help! :toast:

[JudiB]

Oh Nanette, YUM!!

Did you end up using the mace? I have some, but it's got to be over ten years old, and barely has any smell left, lol. I didn't use much of it, I really need to throw it away. I doubt it did anything, one way or the other.

[NoNoNanette]

Hi Judi-

Just a little bit of allspice. (didn't want to buy mace, and couldn't put my hands on cloves)

This was the creamiest roux that I've ever made. I ended up with a stick of butter and 3/4 cup of flour.

I'm absolutely tickled about this.

Next time, she shall buy real turtle meat! ;)