Turkey once, turkey twice, cooking turkey soup with rice

As our post-Thanksgiving pot of turkey soup simmers on the stove, I'm thinking that I should have posted this favorite recipe before Thanksgiving, giving anyone who doesn't already save their turkey carcass a heads up to do so; though you can make an equally delicious soup using chicken. So beloved is Turkey Carcass Soup-perhaps I should consider modifying the name- at our house, that everyone will willingly give up a round of turkey leftovers if they know that turkey will be used for soup.

This is the most used and best loved recipe from my Jane Broody Good Food Book, which I acquired in the first years of married life. My "adjusted" version:

Turkey Carcass Soup

~A good soup begins with a good stock~

Stock
1 large turkey carcass, broken into pieces (today I'm suing two smaller carcasses
water to cover the carcass ( I use 35-40 cups, approximately)
4 onions coarsely chopped
a few ribs of celery with leaves, if available
4 carrots, chopped
1 large turnip, chopped
5 cloves garlic
salt (a put a couple of tablespoons in now but you can add more later when you make the soup.)
4 bay leaves
a handful of fresh parsley (or some dry)
2 tsp dried thyme

Combine all the ingredients in a large pot, bring to a boil, and simmer it for 2 to 3 hours. When stock is ready, strain it--I use a mesh sieve. Remove any remaining turkey from the bones before discarding them.

Soup
1 cup minced onion
6 cloves minced garlic
1/3 cup butter
6 cups diced carrots
3 cups diced celery
3 cups finely chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup flour
36-42 cups stock
2 Tbsp sage
2 cups brown uncooked brown rice
6 cups diced turkey meat
1/2-2/3 cup chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

(I use my food processor to chop/mince all the vegetables but the celery, which I chop by hand.)

1. In a large stockpot, saute the onion and garlic in butter until soft.
2. Add carrots, celery, and mushrooms; cook the vegetables, stirring them, 3 to 5 minutes longer.
3. Add the flour, and cook the mixture, stirring it, for another minute.
4. Add the stock, sage, and brown rice. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer the soup for about an hour.
5. Add the turkey meat, salt and pepper, adjusting seasonings. I sometimes add a few shakes of hot pepper sauce instead of black pepper.
6. Sprinkle the soup with parsley just before serving.

As you can surmise from the quantities of the ingredients, this makes a very large pot of soup. You could halve or even quarter my recipe. Tonight we will enjoy this pot with friends and I will store some in the freezer for our traditional Christmas Eve supper. And, there may still be enough for another meal...