My Stock Is Up

It's officially fall, and the weather is cloudy with a chance of soup. Time to share my chicken stock recipe. First, buy a rotisserie chicken at the store and make several meals out of it, let's say chicken enchiladas, chicken pot pie or chicken burritos. Some of us have husbands that cook our whole chickens on the grill, but I get my chicken (but not my goose) cooked by the guy at Costco who wears a hair net over his beard. Next, get out the crock pot; this will be out often during fall, so make some counter space. Here's where it gets tricky, so you might want to grab a pen and paper. Put the chicken carcass in the crockpot, fill with water, turn it on low if you have 8 hours or more, high if you have 6 hours or less. Step away from the crockpot.
That's it folks, seriously. Some people may claim you need to add vegetables and herbs to the pot, while others insist on roasting the carcass first before watching it simmer on the stove for hours. I'm not one of those people. In the kitchen, as in many other areas of life, I believe less is more. And based on the number of bowls of soup I serve every year, my critics agree.

Now, what to do with the stock. Strain the liquid through a colander and pick off any remaining meat on the carcass and add to stock if desired. We often desire chicken noodle soup once the stock is made. It's almost as easy to make as the stock, with just a little chopping required.

Transfer stock to soup pot. Heat, but do not boil (this results in cloudy broth). If broth is too thin, add a teaspoon of Better Than Bullion (another staple during fall). Add chopped vegetables, such as carrots, celery, potatoes, squash and diced garlic. When vegetables begin to soften, add noodles and cook for a few more minutes, until noodles are cooked through. Season with dill, salt and pepper.

On good days, I make my own noodles using Betty Crocker's recipe, adding cracked pepper to the dough. My kids love to make a drying rack out of tinker toys and help roll the pasta dough. But on days when I've had six kids over playing all afternoon, a slight sore throat, and a husband who needs to eat before he leaves for work, I use ready made egg noodles from Trader Joe's. Sometimes I think they're even better than the real thing. Try it, you'll like it. It's good for the soul (and hopefully my sore throat).