Sunday, September 18, 2011
New Feature
I just added a search feature for this blog. I was thinking about a recipe I might add later, and couldn't remember what I'd posted last year around this time. So, if you want to make something with chicken.... now you can search chicken and see just the recipes that have chicken as an ingredient. How about that?
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Long overdue recipe (Chicken Soup)
I took a break from most of the cooking around our house for much of the summer. My husband was home from work (he's a teacher), and being pregnant has left me with much less energy. Since he went back to work, I've been back in the kitchen more. We'll see how creative I get while I'm cooking and still pregnant!
We've been cleaning out the freezer, fridge, and pantry recently. Who doesn't need to do that?! We almost always cook whole chickens since they're so much less expensive than chicken breasts, and we love the dark meat too. Over the summer, we don't want the oven on long enough to roast a whole bird, so we often cut out the backbone, pound it down and that way it can grill or cook on the stovetop in a much shorter time.
All of those backbones (and sometimes wing tips) were waiting in our freezer to become stock. So, as the weather starts to cool off a little, soups start to come back into the picture.
Chicken Stock
All the frozen chicken parts
A couple of carrots, peeled
A couple of ribs of celery
An onion, quartered
A few bay leaves
As much water as will fit in your pot without boiling over
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a bare simmer and leave it alone for 3 or 4 hours. Let it cool for a while before handling it. Strain out all the solids and discard them. You also may get a layer or fat on top when it cools, which once refrigerated it really easy to skim off. Stock can be refrigerated or frozen. We like to freeze it in a variety of sizes (from ice cubes up to a quart or so) to be used in different recipes without having to thaw more than you need.
Chicken Soup
1 onion, diced
1 or 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
A couple garlic cloves, minced
As much leftover chicken as you can pick off the bone from a previous roasting OR a small package of chicken, chopped really small
Thyme
Salt
Pepper
Noodles (I like egg noodles)
1. In the pot where you'll cook the soup....if you're starting with cooked chicken, I like to saute up the onion, carrot, and celery in a touch of olive oil, then add the garlic, the chicken.
If you're starting with raw chicken, season it with salt and pepper, start it in the pan first, then add the veggies.
2. Simply pour over some stock, bring to a boil, add a sprig of fresh thyme and cook until the veggies are softened to your liking.
3. Add the noodles and cook according to the package. Noodles can easily become very soggy. If you're making a huge batch of soup, you may want to pull out what will be leftovers and cook the noodles in them when you're ready to eat that portion of soup.
We've been cleaning out the freezer, fridge, and pantry recently. Who doesn't need to do that?! We almost always cook whole chickens since they're so much less expensive than chicken breasts, and we love the dark meat too. Over the summer, we don't want the oven on long enough to roast a whole bird, so we often cut out the backbone, pound it down and that way it can grill or cook on the stovetop in a much shorter time.
All of those backbones (and sometimes wing tips) were waiting in our freezer to become stock. So, as the weather starts to cool off a little, soups start to come back into the picture.
Chicken Stock
All the frozen chicken parts
A couple of carrots, peeled
A couple of ribs of celery
An onion, quartered
A few bay leaves
As much water as will fit in your pot without boiling over
Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a bare simmer and leave it alone for 3 or 4 hours. Let it cool for a while before handling it. Strain out all the solids and discard them. You also may get a layer or fat on top when it cools, which once refrigerated it really easy to skim off. Stock can be refrigerated or frozen. We like to freeze it in a variety of sizes (from ice cubes up to a quart or so) to be used in different recipes without having to thaw more than you need.
Chicken Soup
1 onion, diced
1 or 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
A couple garlic cloves, minced
As much leftover chicken as you can pick off the bone from a previous roasting OR a small package of chicken, chopped really small
Thyme
Salt
Pepper
Noodles (I like egg noodles)
1. In the pot where you'll cook the soup....if you're starting with cooked chicken, I like to saute up the onion, carrot, and celery in a touch of olive oil, then add the garlic, the chicken.
If you're starting with raw chicken, season it with salt and pepper, start it in the pan first, then add the veggies.
2. Simply pour over some stock, bring to a boil, add a sprig of fresh thyme and cook until the veggies are softened to your liking.
3. Add the noodles and cook according to the package. Noodles can easily become very soggy. If you're making a huge batch of soup, you may want to pull out what will be leftovers and cook the noodles in them when you're ready to eat that portion of soup.
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