Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Chicken Soup, or rather Chicken Stock is Always Good for the Soul!

 The chill in the air coupled with little drops of rain falling from the sky make me instantly in the mood for soup.  Not the kind that you find in the can, but the slow simmered variety of years gone by.  My Mom was a pro at making all types of soup.  She loved soup and would order soup at a restaurant even when the mercury on the thermometer was exploding out of the top.  Mom would make a big pot of soup at least once a week, and it was usually all of the leftovers in the refrigerator mixed with a few cans of tomatoes, or possibly V-8 juice, or maybe even a combination of frozen vegetables. She would always finish this soup off with a chunk of Velveeta cheese.  It is amazing how great this leftover soup can be.

I guess my love of soup is an honest one, but I prefer it on cold rainy days.  Soup is a versatile type of meal that can be made from numerous ingredients.  I love to make soup that uses ingredients that otherwise would be thrown away. 

Last week, I stocked up on chicken leg quarters at our local grocery store.  For $0.39, I will do what it takes to remove the fat, backbone and separate the legs and thighs.  At first I thought I would throw the backbone away, but then realized this is the perfect ingredient to make chicken stock! Throw in the chicken gizzards my friend Beth brought over, and I am sure we will have a fabulous stock.  I just put all the chicken parts in the pressure cooker, add an onion, garlic, celery and a few carrots and water, and in about 30 minutes we will have stock!

The makings of a great stock!
Not too sure what type of soup I will end up with, but it will be chicken something.  I find myself constantly buying chicken stock.  I use it daily.  Maybe I should just make up a great big batch of stock and put it in the freezer. I have a friend who freezes stock in ice cube trays and then stores them in a large zipper freezer bag in the freezer.  When she needs stock, she pulls out a few cubes.  No waste, and an easy and convenient way to use up leftover stock.

Regardless of the type of soup I end up with, I know it will be flavorful and delicious. I will share the recipe in a while.  I might even be overly ambitious and and make homemade egg noodles for our soup.  I guess you will have to check back and see what type of concoction I come up with.

Have a fabulous day, and keep adventuring and looking for joy in the small details of life!

Sarah

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