BEST TURTLE SOUP

Steps:

• 1. Melt the half cup of butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk in the flour, cook to make a peanut butter colored roux. Set aside.
• 2. In a large saucepan or dutch oven, melt the 4 Tbsp of unsalted butter over medium-high heat, add the diced turtle meat and saute until nicely browned.
• 3. Lower the heat to medium, add both types of onions, the celery, and garlic. Season with salt and black pepper. Saute until the vegetables are tender.
• 4. Add the tomatoes, season with a little salt so they will break down, cook for 10 minutes.
• 5. Add the tomato sauce, beef stock, worcestershire, cayenne, allspice, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then down to a simmer. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally and skimming off any impurities that may rise to the surface.
• 6. Whisk in the roux, simmer until thickened and smooth. Add the thyme, and marjoram, simmer for 15-20 minutes more.
• 7. Add the lemon juice, 3 tsp of the parsley, and the smashed egg yolk, heat through
• 8. Serve garnished with lemon slices, diced egg whites, and parsley. Add the sherry at the table, about 1-2 tsp per bowl. Enjoy!
• 9. *NOTES: As far as finding Turtle Meat in your area, you may have a bit of a challenge. If you have a great Asian Market in your area, it's probably your best bet, they may even have them live if you would like to butcher them yourself. It's a messy business though, with a lot of blood and Post Mortem squirming. I buy frozen. If you can purchase bone-in Turtle Meat, do so! You can Roast the bones and infuse the flavor into your Beef Stock. Roast them in a 400 degree F oven until a nice deep brown, then add them to your Beef Stock and simmer for 30 minutes to an hour. If you like your turtle soup with a rich brown gravy, leave out the tomato sauce. Adding the tomato sauce will add another layer of flavor and will only change the color of the soup slightly.