Golden Chicken, Corn, & Orzo Soup

This soup was positively delicious, but the recipe was flawed...or maybe I only like to eat one kind of chicken soup. I added a bevy of spices in addition to the ones called for which made it sort of a Southwestern affair. I used homemade chicken broth which might not have been as flavorful as it needed to be. I was recently talking shop with a cousin and she said she "fortifies" her broth with a stick of butter. I did no such thing and therefore my broth might not have been altogether tasty.

A word about broths: I pride myself on the fact that I never ever buy the canned stuff (Well, I don't buy chicken broth. Beef broth is another story, but I don't use it that often and I have something in the works to that end anyway). I've become a fan of buying whole chickens and dispatching them myself. Err, I have Mark do that usually, but I think I could totally handle it these days. He'd feel useless if I stripped him of his "meat tech" title, though, so I let him have at it. Meat & handling meat turns Mark into a different person. His face just glows. I know how sick and sad this all sounds, but it is so very true. I felt I'd discovered something truly grand when I first put a big piece of meat in front of him. All was good in the world.

Anyway, back to the broth talk. When we cut up our whole chickens, all the "refuse" goes into a gallon-sized zip top bag. The backbone & marrow are supposedly really flavorful. I keep it in the freezer until I have a lazy Sunday or Tuesday (the life of a substitute teacher can be very glamorous, indeed). When I'm ready to make the broth, I pour the contents of the bag into my 5-quart dutch oven & add a quartered onion, a carrot or two, celery (if I happen to have it), several cloves of garlic, peppercorns, dried oregano, cumin & coriander seeds.

We also have a bag of veggie scraps: fennel fronds, onion skin (if it's organic. LRK says it's culinary gold), stems from greens, etc. If you invest in organic produce, you really should be saving your scraps. They make a delicious broth. You use the same method to produce a veggie broth.

If this idea interests you, here's a more thorough explanation by one of my favorite local food bloggers.

I have used her exact method before & perhaps I need to return to it. I got lazy when I made this particular batch of broth, so I didn't saute the veggies or anything. You could also roast them, which is more hands off, but produces flavorful results. Oh, and the addition of Madiera is nice. I don't keep it around, so I'll add white wine or vermouth. Marsala wine is also good.

Okay, so soup. We were talking about soup originally. This soup was really nice. We found ourselves adding lots of lemon juice at the table. This brightened it and made it super fabulous. Again, it was probably my faulty broth, but we found ourselves adding lots of salt. The lemon juice had a similar effect with less guilt.

Here's the recipe & I'll try to update our changes.

Golden Chicken, Corn & Orzo Soup

Adapted from Fine Cooking

olive oil celery onions thyme chicken broth chicken flat-leaf parsley lemons kosher salt black peppercorns

2 Tbs. olive oil (I used 2 T. of butter, because you know I can't help myself)
2 large ribs celery, finely diced

2 smallish carrots, cut into coins
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 pinch saffron threads (I didn’t have saffron, so I used paprika. They’re the same color, so they must have the same flavor, right?)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
2 qt. homemade or low-salt chicken broth
2 cups finely diced or shredded cooked chicken (such as leftover roast chicken) (We used 2 chicken breasts that were trimmed & smoked on our grill by the meat tech. He'll have to share his tips with you, because, man, it was really good. He gets more flavor out of those paltry things that taste so much like sawdust sometimes. He put together a super cheap, diy smoker situation for our little gas grill. However, grill season is over, so perhaps it must wait.)
1/2 cup orzo (I think that cheese torts would be good too)
1 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice; more to taste
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Tip: You might wonder why the orzo is cooked separately. There are two reasons. If you boiled the orzo directly in the soup, the starch from the pasta would cloud the soup broth, and the orzo would also suck up too much of the soup broth as it cooked. Boiling the pasta separately solves both of these problems. (This is what FC has to say & I kinda agree, but I don't think boiling the pasta in the soup would be so bad either. I tend to like thicker soups. I guess that makes them stews or something, but whatev. However, I do think keeping the pasta separate would be a good thing if you weren't going to eat all this soup right away. We had several servings of leftovers and our pasta never got too soggy, but I worry that if this soup hangs around for more than 2 days, you'd probably want to keep the pasta separate.)

Bring a medium saucepan of well-salted water to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the celery, onion, saffron, and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables start to soften, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer, add the chicken and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. While the soup simmers, cook the orzo in the boiling salted water until tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain.

Add the drained orzo, corn, and parsley to the soup and cook just until the corn is heated through, about 2 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and season to taste with salt, pepper, and more lemon juice, if needed.

nutrition information (per serving):
Size: based on six servings; Calories (kcal): 250; Fat (g): 10; Fat Calories (kcal): 90; Saturated Fat (g): 2; Protein (g): 22; Monounsaturated Fat (g): 6; Carbohydrates (g): 19; Polyunsaturated Fat (g): 2; Sodium (mg): 440; Cholesterol (mg): 40; Fiber (g): 2;

So, I ended up adding Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, oregano, shoot, I don't know what all. After my first initial tastes, it was just so limp. & I started craving Patsy's chicken soup. Patsy's chicken soup recipe will have to make an appearance here at some point. It's spoiled me for all other chicken soups. Patsy is the mom of one of my oldest & best friends, Amanda. She & Amanda are the reasons I love food as much as I do (you know I didn't gain an appreciation for anything but restaurant leftovers living at Peggy French's house).

Anyway, her chicken soup recipe is a lot less fussy & much tastier, so next time, my friends. We'll pick up this chicken soup convo when I have a decent recipe to offer.

Two Soups

Lately I'm only interested in making soup. The act of eating soup is one of my favorites (I can tell you honestly that I like it more than pasta, though it may not seem that way) and the ones I am most attracted to are usually easy and quick. Though I'm an avid menu planner, some nights I'm just all out of ideas. I know I'm at my best when I devise a lovely soup out of my pantry rather than going for the ever-so-easy frozen pizza pitfall (we usually dress them up a bit with spices and whatever veg we have hanging around, but a $5 frozen cheese pizza is hard to beat at times).

I'm fond of topping soups with a salad of sorts which isn't always necessary, as was the case with this wonderful Roasted Tomato Soup from our lady Ina:

It required nothing. We had it with big crusty pieces of bread, but they weren't required. If I were going all out, I think it'd be great topped with shavings of parm or romano (or both), fresh arugula, and avocado, but it was wonderful all on its own...robust and hearty. I made sure not to puree it completely, leaving it nice and chunky.

• 3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons good olive oil (I only used enough to lightly drizzle the maters)
  
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 (28-ounce) canned plum tomatoes, with their juice
• 4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed (I used dried, like 2 tablespoons. I don't know what it is with me, but basil has just been turning me off lately)
  
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (used 1 teaspoon dried)
  
• 1 quart chicken stock or water (I used chicken stock)
  

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper. Spread the tomatoes in 1 layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.

In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the butter, and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown. Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock. Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes. Pass through a food mill fitted with the coarsest blade. Taste for seasonings. Serve hot or cold.

I have no idea why Ina calls for all of that olive oil. She tends to be a little on the crazy side when it comes to adding fat/expense to recipes. It always seems like she's cooking her last meal or something. Heck, I may order the deep fried Chicken Crispers at Chili's, but I don't act like that at home (disregard upcoming fried chicken post, please). I don't see the need.

Regardless, I made this soup a couple of weeks ago when tomatoes still seemed decent around these parts, but as it turned out, mine were kinda flavorless, even after the roasting. I maybe should have roasted them longer or added some sugar to them before roasting to accentuate their natural sweetness. I ended up adding about a tablespoon of sugar to the soup after I pureed it. Roma tomatoes usually look okay year-round, so I think you could make this at any time if you just added a little sweetness to them...honey, agave, sugar, whatever floats your boat.

The soup was incredibly rich and really good on the reheat (as is the case with most soups).

The next soup was recommended by my good friend, Amanda.
Tortellini Tomato Spinach Soup
from RecipeZaar



SERVES 4 -6 (change servings and units)
Ingredients
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1/2 cup minced onion (about 1/2 small onion)
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 4-6 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
* 1 (14 ounce) can whole tomatoes, coarsely chopped
* 1 (9 ounce) package fresh tortellini or dried tortellini
* kosher salt
* cracked black pepper
* 10 ounces fresh spinach or frozen spinach, defrosted and chopped
* 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions

1. In a soup pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat.

2. Saute the onion and garlic, stirring often until onions are translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes.

3. Add broth and tomatoes, turn heat up to high, and bring to a boil.

4. Add the tortellini and cook according to package instructions.

5. When tortellini is almost done, add spinach and taste, adjusting seasonings with salt and pepper.

6. Serve immediately.

7. Garnish each serving with a sprinkling of Parmesan.


I used fresh spinach and veg broth. I also added in some roasted quartered button *mushrooms I had leftover from a salad earlier in the week. They added a nice meatiness.

I have to emphasize that you should be very careful to not add the tortellini in until you are ready to eat. I buy the frozen kind and it cooks in less than two minutes. If you let it sit in the broth too long, they get bloated and fall apart. If you aren't feeding a crowd and expect to have leftovers (the 2 of us ate on this at least 3 times each), I would recommend cooking the torts in a separate pot according to package instructions. Once al dente, drain them and reserve separately from the soup. To serve, spoon some torts (this also helps you to limit your fat intake as well, as you only get as few or as many torts as you'd like) in your bowl and ladle the soup on top.

*The mushrooms were tossed with olive oil and shoyu (could use soy sauce) and roasted for 40 minutes in a roasted a 375 degree oven (stir twice during duration).

Hey Stranger

We've cooked minimally in the last couple of months. I've been playing a teacher, which has worked out well for me, I'd say...though I cannot go into specifics right now. I have been sad to have to relinquish my cooking habit, but the payoff may be worth it. Generally, I cook for therapy, but it is possible, I'm now convinced, that teaching is my new therapy. It's a calling, that's for sure.

For now, I cook on Saturdays, if I have the energy to look something up.

On a lazy Hills-soaked Saturday night a month or so ago, we made this:

Chicken Sausage Farro Soup

We got the Cilantro Chicken Sausage from Trader Joe's. This soup was good, better on the reheat if you ask me (as you know, most soups are). I loved the texture of the farro: chewy goodness. The collard spines were crunchy and delectable as I like them. I would recommend this soup if you're into sausage + curry. The flavor and textures were too much for me, though.

We also made a tomato soup, which was good, but not remarkable.

I made the croutons with some Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Sourdough cut into cubes, tossed with olive oil, and a good shake of Sicilian oregano (from Lazzaroli's).



Shameless Self-Promotion: please do check out my Middle School Blog as I'm really intrigued by my thought processes those days as I'm now working with kids of this age group.

That's My Potpie, Kitty

I know that's the first line of the Smitten Kitchen post that inspired this endeavor, but I must repeat it because we really did have a newly-adopted beggar kitty pursuing our potpies.


A few more obligatory shots because I'm shameless and you know you want it:




reaching out to win over our friends:


adapting to her new home:


getting acquainted to her new roommate:


that's too much, i know. more can be found on my new blog devoted to miscellany and self-indulgent narrative.

let's shift gears to the real topic at hand, my friends. Mark's bread obsession has led him to pie crust...and pie crust he can do. i know, i'm a little baffled. this man's outdone me already.

we got our inspiration here, and it turned out like this:


The only thing I did differently than Deb & Ina (good company to keep if you ask me) was I boiled the chicken breasts in my cast iron dutch oven with some herbs, peppercorns, bay leaf, onion, carrot, celery, and the greens from the top of a bunch of carrots (they needed a use) which resulted in some lovely homemade chicken broth.

This was last Sunday's work and I was a powerhouse that day. I elected to spend the entire day in the kitchen. That cast iron dutch oven paid for itself that day. I also used it to make veggie broth. For a month or so I've been saving onion skin (as long as it's organic), mushroom stems, chard spines, things that would otherwise be composted in a ziplock in the freezer. I dumped the contents into the pot, added fresh onion, carrot, and celery along with the other items mentioned in the previous paragraph and simmered it for about an hour and a half. I strained it and then added salt. It was very tasty.

I froze two quarts and used the rest to make a curry ginger carrot bisque recipe I found on Tastespotting.



It was just okay...needed texture. Next time I'll add black beans.

So, to recap, last Sunday, I made:
chicken stock
pot pie filling
veggie stock
carrot soup

oh yeah, and I also made maybe my best batch ever of chili powder. Take that last week's bloody chicken debacle.

South of France Tomato Soup with Young Chèvre

To tell you the truth, I wasn't a fan, but Mark loved it. The combination of the cinnamon with the salty, pungent goat cheese was pretty magical, but it was just too much for me. I know, I'm a baby. This was, however, the most interesting tomato soup I've ever had. Try it for yourself. Here's the recipe:

Generous ½ teaspoon dried basil
Generous ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
Generous ½ teaspoon dried oregano
Generous ½ teaspoon dried thyme
Good-tasting extra-virgin olive oil
3 medium onions, finely chopped
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
3 large cloves garlic, minced
Generous ¼ cup tomato paste
1/3 cup dry vermouth
2 pounds good-tasting fresh tomatoes (do not use Romas), peeled, seeded and chopped; or one can (28 ounces) whole tomatoes with their liquid, crushed (I used canned fire-roasted because that's all I had)
2 cans (14 ounces each) chicken or vegetable broth and 2/3 cup water
Generous ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon, or to taste
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
4 ounces fresh goat cheese, crumbled

1. Combine dried herbs in a small cup. Crush them lightly until they become fragrant. Set aside.

2. Film the bottom of a 6-quart pot with olive oil. Heat over medium-high heat. Stir in onions, season with salt and pepper, and cook until onions are golden brown, 5 to 8 minutes, stirring often. Add reserved herbs and garlic. Continue cooking until their aromas open up, about 30 seconds.

3. Blend in tomato paste until there are no lumps; then add vermouth and tomatoes. Boil for 2 minutes. Pour in broth, stir, adjust heat to a light bubble, and cover pot tightly. Cook 20 minutes. Then blend in cinnamon, taste and adjust seasonings if needed.

4. Ladle soup into bowls, and top each serving with crumbles of goat cheese.

From, you guessed it, How to Eat Supper