It must be the Swine Flu.....
It's Chicken Soup!
I'm making Chicken and Wild Rice and Barley soup but you could just as easily make it Chicken Noodle. Or Chicken and Stars, or Alphabets! Or Chicken and tiny little pasta thing-a-majigs that I am too tired to look up the name of right now. It's all tasty. And pretty good for you too. I like to make my own stock so this is an all day process for me but you can use canned stock, or those salty little cubes if you want. Here's the list.
4 Bone in, Skin on Chicken thighs
2 Chicken Leg Quarters
2 of those Real Big Cans of Stock
1 Cup Wild Rice Mix ( or Noodles, or pasta or whatever) +1 1/2 Cup Broth (Additional liquid to the cans previously mentioned)
1 Cup Barley (Cuz I like it and it's good for me.) + 1 Cup Broth (ditto on the stuff above)
10 Carrots. (Use real carrots you lazy shit.)
5 Celery Stalks
1 Big Onion
1 Container of Button Mushrooms
1 Container of Baby Portables. (Blah balh balh, I know. They are PortaBELLAS. Shuddup.)
1 Bag of Corn
1 Bag of Peas
Varritable array of fresh heeeeerbs. I like Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.
Any other veggies you have on hand and it strikes you they might be tastey in chicken soup
Start with going to your basement/storage unit/ closet in the back hallway farthest away from the kitchen and retrieving that big ass stock pot you mother in law gave you for your wedding that you looked at and thought 'When the fuck am I ever going to need a pot like that?' as you politely said Thank You. Yeah....... you need it now.
Pour in your Stock and add the chicken and 5 or 6 sage leaves, 10 or so thymes and 2 or 3 rosemary stems( you can tie these together so it's easier to get them out later). Cook for 20 minutes to a half hour.
Now we are CHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOPPING!
I like to make all my bits o'shit the same size. Or as close as I can get. Wash and de-end your Carrots. Quarter them and dice them. Now make the Onion dice about the same size, the Mushroom dice the same size and the Celery dice the same size. Make sure to pot the stems out of the portables. They are a liiiiitle tough sometimes. Save them for later! They help make taaaaasty stock.
When ever the chicken is done but not falling apart. Remove the chicken with tongs and set aside to cool. Now go ahead and add your Carrots, Wild Rice and Barley. Simmer simmer simmer that shizzle for a bit. 20minutes or so should be good. Toss in the rest of your softer vegies. Mushrooms, celery, onion, corn and peas. You could at this point put in a can of cream o'something soup if you like creamier soup. I like to strip some more thyme and toss that in, but by all means TASTE YOUR SOUP. If you want more thyme or sage, or rosemary chop it up pretty finr, or you can take a bit of juice out of the pot and wiz them up in your wizzer (magic bullet, food processor, what-Evar.)
I am a firm believer in taste as you go. You can't take salt back but it a terrible thing to serve bland food. No one should make cafateria food at home. Heeeeeeerbs are your friends. Dried or fresh you need to make peace with that.
Go stand in the spice isle at your grocery store and dreeeeeeeeam about the flavors and styles of foods you can make......
*sigh*
ANYWAYZ, now turn back to the chicken. You need to shred up your chicken. Slide that slippery skin offa there. EEEeeewwwwwww!
Pull the chicken off the bone and shred it down into whatever size pieces you like. Toss it back into the soup.
Mmmmmmm............ *drrooooooooollllllll*
Don't throw away all the leftover goooooooooodness. Chicken bones and fat should go into a ziplock. That's good soup making shit for later. Carrot butts, onion skins, tops and bottoms, leftover celery bits, they all should be kept for the flavaaaaahz. The freezer is your friend.
Simmer simmer simmmmmmmmer away. Another half hour or so then you should have food. Tasty food at that. This recipe makes a butt load of food so have a Swine Flu party, or just a regular party, or package some up and give it to a sick friend. That's a NICE thing to do.
I'm making Chicken and Wild Rice and Barley soup but you could just as easily make it Chicken Noodle. Or Chicken and Stars, or Alphabets! Or Chicken and tiny little pasta thing-a-majigs that I am too tired to look up the name of right now. It's all tasty. And pretty good for you too. I like to make my own stock so this is an all day process for me but you can use canned stock, or those salty little cubes if you want. Here's the list.
4 Bone in, Skin on Chicken thighs
2 Chicken Leg Quarters
2 of those Real Big Cans of Stock
1 Cup Wild Rice Mix ( or Noodles, or pasta or whatever) +1 1/2 Cup Broth (Additional liquid to the cans previously mentioned)
1 Cup Barley (Cuz I like it and it's good for me.) + 1 Cup Broth (ditto on the stuff above)
10 Carrots. (Use real carrots you lazy shit.)
5 Celery Stalks
1 Big Onion
1 Container of Button Mushrooms
1 Container of Baby Portables. (Blah balh balh, I know. They are PortaBELLAS. Shuddup.)
1 Bag of Corn
1 Bag of Peas
Varritable array of fresh heeeeerbs. I like Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.
Any other veggies you have on hand and it strikes you they might be tastey in chicken soup
Start with going to your basement/storage unit/ closet in the back hallway farthest away from the kitchen and retrieving that big ass stock pot you mother in law gave you for your wedding that you looked at and thought 'When the fuck am I ever going to need a pot like that?' as you politely said Thank You. Yeah....... you need it now.
Pour in your Stock and add the chicken and 5 or 6 sage leaves, 10 or so thymes and 2 or 3 rosemary stems( you can tie these together so it's easier to get them out later). Cook for 20 minutes to a half hour.
Now we are CHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOPPING!
I like to make all my bits o'shit the same size. Or as close as I can get. Wash and de-end your Carrots. Quarter them and dice them. Now make the Onion dice about the same size, the Mushroom dice the same size and the Celery dice the same size. Make sure to pot the stems out of the portables. They are a liiiiitle tough sometimes. Save them for later! They help make taaaaasty stock.
When ever the chicken is done but not falling apart. Remove the chicken with tongs and set aside to cool. Now go ahead and add your Carrots, Wild Rice and Barley. Simmer simmer simmer that shizzle for a bit. 20minutes or so should be good. Toss in the rest of your softer vegies. Mushrooms, celery, onion, corn and peas. You could at this point put in a can of cream o'something soup if you like creamier soup. I like to strip some more thyme and toss that in, but by all means TASTE YOUR SOUP. If you want more thyme or sage, or rosemary chop it up pretty finr, or you can take a bit of juice out of the pot and wiz them up in your wizzer (magic bullet, food processor, what-Evar.)
I am a firm believer in taste as you go. You can't take salt back but it a terrible thing to serve bland food. No one should make cafateria food at home. Heeeeeeerbs are your friends. Dried or fresh you need to make peace with that.
Go stand in the spice isle at your grocery store and dreeeeeeeeam about the flavors and styles of foods you can make......
*sigh*
ANYWAYZ, now turn back to the chicken. You need to shred up your chicken. Slide that slippery skin offa there. EEEeeewwwwwww!
Pull the chicken off the bone and shred it down into whatever size pieces you like. Toss it back into the soup.
Mmmmmmm............ *drrooooooooollllllll*
Don't throw away all the leftover goooooooooodness. Chicken bones and fat should go into a ziplock. That's good soup making shit for later. Carrot butts, onion skins, tops and bottoms, leftover celery bits, they all should be kept for the flavaaaaahz. The freezer is your friend.
Simmer simmer simmmmmmmmer away. Another half hour or so then you should have food. Tasty food at that. This recipe makes a butt load of food so have a Swine Flu party, or just a regular party, or package some up and give it to a sick friend. That's a NICE thing to do.
Comments