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Wahoooooooo! That means I passed my test, in case it wasn’t clear. And I am so so glad. That was easily the most stressful thing I have done in a long time. I felt unprepared and I HATE feeling unprepared. It was hard. I woke up this morning and honestly felt like a year had passed since last Friday. But it is over! And studying did give me the opportunity to procrastinate and make lots of soup, so that is nice. Sorry about the three day hiatus, I was going to blog every day to get all the soup in, but Sunday got a little hairy as the test was getting closer, and Monday was for test taking and then bubbly-drinking and yesterday was for the rest of life. But today is soup day again! Specifically, Chicken Noodle. There are a million ways to make it, but the gist is chicken vegetables and noodles in chicken broth. (I mean, there probably aren’t a MILLION ways to make it, but you know what I mean.) This is a pretty basic, classic version. (This one is classic with a twist and I am DYING to try it. Related: have you guys ever checked out Sweet Paul? It is GORGEOUS.)  A cure for what ails you This version is perfect for post-chicken dinner leftovers. The key is homemade stock. While I suppose it is not technically necessary, I am saying it’s necessary. You are going to be so happy with yourself if you use homemade stock. It will be infinitely better. Truly. There are plenty of times where homemade stock isn’t that noticeable because of other things that are going into the soup, but this is not one of those times. (STOCK REMINDER: put six lbs of chicken backs in a large pot and cover with water. (Use wings or legs if you don’t collect chicken backs in your freezer/can’t get them from your butcher or grocery store. Pro-tip – ask for them at your butcher or grocery store. Whole Foods often has them packaged with the other chicken for .99 a pound. Way cheaper than you’ll pay for wings.) When the water boils, take the chicken out, dump the water (and the sludge that will come along with it) rinse out the pot, and add the chicken back in with two onions peeled and cut in half, three carrots peeled and cut in large pieces, three celery stalks peeled and cut in pieces, a head of garlic sliced in half width wise, two or three bay leaves, a handful of fresh parsley, some black peppercorns and a good dash of salt. Cover with a ton of water (I use a 12 quart pot and fill it close to the top.) Bring to a gentle boil, reduce heat, simmer for two to four hours or as long as you are hanging around the house, strain the solids out, and voila! Chicken stock! Let it cool, skim the fat off the top and use what you need and freeze the rest!)
Other than the stock and the leftover chicken, I like onion, celery, a little bit of garlic, carrots, egg noodles and dill. And that’s it. Soften the vegetables without browning them. Add the stock, bring to a simmer and cook until the carrots are soft. Add the egg noodles and the chicken, cook until the noodles are done. Add the dill, voila! That’s it. It all happens in about half an hour, which is pretty funny, considering Chicken Soup is the quintessential comfort food. It seems like the quintessential comfort food that cures all ills and is essentially a word that has come to symbolize home itself should be an undertaking of some sort. But it’s not. Go forth. Make soup. Classic Chicken Noodle Soup (Makes a lot) 2 tbl olive oil 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped 3 carrots, peeled a chopped in half moons 3 stalks celery, peeled and sliced in half moons 1 large clove garlic, minced 8 cups chicken stock 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken 4-6 oz egg noodles 1 handful dill, chopped (optional, but I recommend it!) Salt and pepper to taste Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add all the vegetables and saute until they are soft, without letting them brown. Add the chicken stock, bring the soup to a gentle boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer for 20 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Add the chicken and the noodles, and cook for another five or six minutes until the noodles are cooked through. Add the dill, taste for salt and pepper and add as needed, and serve! (IF you are planning on freezing or bringing this to someone’s house, or saving it for later, and you are worried about the noodles getting too mushy, leave them out at this point. Or take some of the soup out for freezing or transporting and just add the appropriate amount of noodles to what you are going to eat now, and add the rest to the defrosted/transported/saved part, so they don’t get mushy!)
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You guys, January was going to be soup month, and it IS actually soup month. I’ve made a bunch, and it’s been soupier than I even anticipated, due to some client requests. Of course, it hasn’t be post-ier than normal (though this will be the third one this month, so maybe it has) which means there are SO MANY SOUPS to discuss. So I have to post every day between now and next Thursday, because I have so much soup to talk about and I couldn’t POSSIBLY let soup trickle into February, because if these arbitrary monthly themes that I decide at totally random times for absolutely no rhyme or reason and based on no one’s whims but my own don’t mean anything, WHAT DOES?  This particular soup is a bit of a palate cleanser. It’s light and healthy and can easily be made vegetarian or vegan with equally delicious results. (For real! I’ve done it!) It has a ton of flavor, but is not heavy at all. It would be great as part of a multi-course meal, it would work in all kinds of weather, and is kind of perfect if you are using January to detox from the holidays. I made it for the first time in November when I was cooking a dinner that had quite a few dietary restrictions (kosher, vegan, soy and gluten allergies) and had to come up with a soup that would please vegans and meat eaters alike. I made a quick vegetable stock, because a) store bought vegetable stocks can taste real weird, and b) because store bought stocks can have all sorts of surprise soy and gluten in them, and both the vegetable stock (quick trick! Add a potato!) and the soup itself came out pretty damn delicious, if I do say so myself. Toot Toot! When I made it at home for myself, I used chicken stock, because that’s how I roll. It was also delicious.
Basically, this soup should not taste as good as it does, because there are essentially four ingredients and one of them is carrots. But it does! I mean, it tastes like carrots, it’s not like it tastes like steak, but it is delicious. And the ginger gives it a serious kick. It would be really nice if you were sick. The ginger will clear out your sinuses AND settle your stomach! It’s magic! (I’m pretty sure ginger can cure the common cold too. I had a DOOZY coming on one day a while back, and I made this and the next day it was GONE. Not even kidding. It was amazing.) So what I’m saying is, if you get sick soon, make this soup and keep me posted on what happens. If I have unwittingly discovered the cure for the common cold and/or stomach upset, Imma need to know. I’ve always wanted to be rich and famous. I HAVE BIG PLANS. Alright, back to the studying. Hasta mañana. Carrot – Ginger Soup (serves 6-8) 4 tbl butter or olive oil 2 medium onions, diced 1 ½ lbs carrots, peeled and sliced in half moons 2 tbl minced ginger 8 cups chicken or vegetable stock Salt and pepper In a large soup pot or dutch oven, melt butter, or heat olive oil over medium heat and add onions. Sauté just until soft and add carrots. Cook onions and carrots until the carrots are just beginning to get tender. Don’t let the vegetables brown. Add the ginger, a pinch of salt and pepper, and then add the chicken or vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer until the carrots are cooked all the way through and quite soft, 20 – 30 minutes. Let the mixture cool for about 10 minutes, before pureeing in batches in a blender until very smooth. (An immersion blender is not going to give you the smoothness you want here. Go full bore with the blender for this one.) Reheat if necessary, add salt and pepper to taste, and serve. Feel healthy and virtuous! |
A little bit of B&G from my kitchen to yours... Archives
July 2017
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