It's time for something warm and comfortable.

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Chief Longwind Of The North

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Winter weather is upon us in full force up here in Yooper Country. So it's time for my favorite soup, warm, comfortable, and it is reported to help cure the common cold too.:chef:

This is from my cookbook; "You Can Be A Great Cook With Poultry".

Chicken For Soup


Though I prefer whole chickens, bones and all, you can use any type of chicken you want and still create a delicious soup. However, whole chicken stays fresh longer than-cut up chicken. Prepare the chicken as follows:
Wash the inside and outside of the uncooked bird with cold, running water. Remove the legs and thighs by slicing a semi-circle around the thigh hip and disjointing the thigh-bone socket. Pull the thigh away from the chicken body and finish cutting the meat until separation is complete. Set on a plate. Then find the indentation between the drumstick and thigh at the knee and slice between them with a sturdy knife. Repeat this process for the other thigh and drumstick. Set to the side.

Next, cut another semi-circle around the base of the wing where it joins with the body. Disjoint it and set aside. With chicken breast up, slice with a very sharp, flexible knife (a fish fillet knife works well for this) along the side of the breastbone and carefully remove the breast meat. Remove from both sides and set aside. The remaining chicken instructions are found in the recipe


Tip - If you break the bones, you will add the nutritional and flavor benefits of bone marrow to the soup. The bone marrow is rich in collagen, a nutritionally rich cousin to protein.


Vegetables:
Vegetables must add subtle flavor to the soup. They complement the total taste experience without drawing attention to themselves. Choose vegetables with mild, sweet flavor, such as carrots, celery, celery root, onion, bok choy, garlic, shallots, and green onions. Chop them, slice them, add them any way you like. But always remember that you can easily add more if the flavor is too bland. However, if you add too much of a flavor, it
's nearly impossible to remove. So, add a little, let its flavors blend. Taste. If you need more, add a little more. Repeat until the desired flavor is reached.
Herbs and Spices:
These are flavorings made from leaves (herbs), or seeds (spices). They contain aromatic oils which add flavor to the foods we eat. Some go well with sweets while others are tailor made for savory dishes. Still others go well with either or both. Herbs, spices, and flavorings are unstable and aromatic, or volatile. That is they contain oils which tend to evaporate and spread out into the air, like a perfume. They must be kept away from moisture, light, and heat as these accelerate the evaporation and cause the product to lose its potency. Store in air-tight containers, in a cool, dark, and dry place.

Salt is a mineral and does not suffer from light or heat exposure. Moisture can cause it to cake together. Store again in a cool, dry, place.


Any spices which complement chicken can be used in Chicken soup. Some examples are thyme, sage, salt, pepper, oregano, savory, and saffron. Cajun spices are sometimes used, but due to this authors inexperience with Cajun cooking, these will not be discussed.


Again, less is often more. Adding more herbs and spices is easy. Removing too much is nearly impossible. So always start small and add more if required. In addition, the herbs and spices release their flavor during the cooking time. Don
't expect to taste the full flavor until after twenty or more minutes has elapsed. To test sooner is to add too much of something to what could have been a great soup (I learned this lesson the hard way.).
Now, on to the recipes.


Chicken Noodle Soup Extraordinaire #2
The original recipe listed above was the finest chicken noodle soup I
=d ever made. However, never satisfied, I modified the recipe. It is richer, with more vegetables and flavor. If it doesn=t nourish your family, while at the same time drawing oohs and ahhs from everyone who eats it, then you=re serving aliens from some other galaxy.

Ingredients:
1 whole frying chicken, cut up into pieces (about three pounds)
2 medium yellow onions
Four carrots, sliced
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup bow tie noodles
2 tbs. salt
1 tsp. coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. Rubbed Sage
2 tbs. Olive oil
3 stalks Bok Choy
1 clove minced or crushed garlic
1 medium zucchini
3 stalks celery
1/8 cup pearl barley


Remove skin and gizzards from the chicken. Place them in a stock pot and fry until the skins are crispy. While skin is frying, bone the chicken and cut the meat into 2" cubes.

Remove skins and gizzards from the stock pot and salt lightly. Give to the dog, or if you're not worried about the fat, eat em. They're delicious.
Pour off the fat and add 2 tbs. Olive Oil to the pot. Add the cubed chicken meat and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently. Do not brown. Cook only until the meat is white throughout. When the chicken shows no more pink (about seven minutes) remove from the pot and set aside. Place the garlic and onion into the pot and heat until the garlic turns golden. Remove the onion.

Break the chicken bones to release nutrients and flavor. Add 3 quarts water to the pot and put the bones in. Boil on high for twenty minutes. While the bones are flavoring the broth, Prepare the vegetables by washing them under cold water. Be careful to remove any grit from the bok choy. Peel and slice the carrots. Slice the bok choy as you would celery until reaching the leafy part. Chop the leaves as you would cabbage for Cole slaw. Slice the celery. Slice the zucchini lengthwise into four spears. Slice the spears into 1/8 inch slices.

After the twenty minutes has elapsed, strain the chicken stock through a wire sieve and return the broth to the stock pot. Place the barley and vegetables into the chicken stock and boil over medium heat and cover. Make the noodles.

Noodles
Place flour and 2 tsp. salt in a mixing bowl. Add 1 tbs. olive oil and 1/4 cup water. Stir to make a dough. Add more flour or water until the kneaded product has the same consistency as bread dough. Continue kneading for five minutes.

Place circle of dough on a floured surface and roll until very thin (about a 16th of an inch thick). Slice into 1/8th inch strips and then cut the strips into three inch lengths.

Add 2 cups water to the stock. Gently lay the home made noodles into the soup and let simmer for five minutes before stirring. Cook for 30 minutes more.

When the noodles, and barley are tender, add the cooked chicken and any juices which have accumulated with the meat. Ladle into bowls and serve with crusty pumpernickel or whole wheat bread, and butter/margarine.


Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
Hi to all the yuppers there from the yuppers here. Yes, tis the season for soup and yours looks good. Made pea soup here yesterday and will make potato soup today. Thanks for sharing.
 
Thank you, Goodweed! That warmed me up...just reading the recipe! I've saved this one to make. Never cooked with bok choy. Looking forward to the new experience.
:)
 
funny, all y'alls don't sound like yoopers when ya type?!?!?!?!

Oh you bet you I know what a yooper sounds like, ya,

Stay warm and maybe we'll meet down to Hormels at the Spam fest! More likely over to Manatowoc whan I go shoppin' for some kitchen goods.

(I love regional dialects, foods and recipes, customs, etc. )
 
We got 3" of snow here yesterday, and it was 3 degrees when I got up this morning. Definitely soup weather!
I love chicken soup, and that recipe sounds delicious, GW. You sure went to a lot of trouble...I just throw the whole chicken in the pot. But now I'm thinking about trying your way next time...or at least cutting up my chicken and browning the pieces. That's bound to make it taste better!

Thumper, did you put carrots and potatoes in your pea soup? I love it that way. How about giving us your recipe?
 
GW, you a yooper, eh? Cool.

Not as cool as having a cookbook though -- that is COOL!

Thanks for sharing! Looks like a weekend plan!
 
Owwww ... sounds warm and yummy! Soup must be on everyone's mind these cold days - we made pea soup too last night thumpershere2 (sorry Constance - only carrots, no potatoes).
Thanks for sharing!
 
More

My husband camed home from hunting yesterday, cold and tired. I had 1.5 lbs of ground chuck thawed, and here is what I fixed for him.

1-1/2 lbs ground chuck
1 tbls garlic/herb seasoning
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 jar Prego spaghetti sauce
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
1 small can tomato sauce
1 little can sliced black olives, drained
1 can mushroom stems & peices, drained
1 medium onion, chopped
2 bell peppers, chopped
2 tbls olive oil
3 cups dried elbow macaroni
1/2 lb Velveeta Lite Cheese

Put ground chuck in skillet or big bowl in microwave. Season liberally with garlic/herb seasoning, and a moderate amount of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring to crumble, just until pink is gone. Put in colander and let drain.
Put chopped onions and peppers in small bowl in microwave with the olive oil (bacon grease or butter), and nuke until soft, checking every few minutes.
Cook elbows in well-salted boiling water to which 2 tbls olive oil have been added. When pasta is barely tender (still pretty firm), drain in a colander.
In large bowl, combine all ingredients except cheese.
Fill 2-3 casserole dishes with pasta mix, freeze or save a couple, then cover the one you want to eat with a generous layer of cheese slices. Nuke or bake in the oven at 350 until cheese is melted and filling is bubbling.
Serve with crusty bread.
 
Last edited:
Constance said:
My husband camed home from hunting yesterday, cold and tired. I had 1.5 lbs of ground chuck thawed, and here is what I fixed for him.

1-1/2 lbs ground chuck
1 tbls garlic/herb seasoning
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 jar Prego spaghetti sauce
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
1 small can tomato sauce
1 little can sliced black olives, drained
1 can mushroom stems & peices, drained
1 medium onion, chopped
2 bell peppers, chopped
2 tbls olive oil
3 cups dried elbow macaroni
1/2 lb Velveeta Lite Cheese

...

Classic. Absolutely classic. Omit the cheese, add some oregano, and basil, and we call it goulash (of course it bears no resemblance to the real thing. It's just what everyone calles a tomatoe and ground beef macaroni dish .). I like to add some chopped green pepper to mine and serve with the Kraft brand Parmesan cheese (I know, but this is supposed to be a cheap, stick-to-your-ribs on a cold day kinda meal, not gourmet fare). When you add the Velveeta, it takes on the character of canned pasta products, like Chef Boyarde stuff. I used to love the canned ravioli when I was growing up.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North
 
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