9.23.2007

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).

18 comments:

  1. oh wow does this look yummy! i will def. have to try this, however, i have about another month or two before it begins to cool enough to give us relief :(

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  2. Yay! for the first addition to the "Season of Soup" list!!! This looks divine, Molly!

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  3. Since I've been cooking all morning I don't want to cook a chicken...but you sure make it tempting! I planned on Nugget's marinated chicken parts, but they had none according to Mom. Perhaps while cooking this evening my usual tri-tip, a chicken over the beer cooker could fit too!Happy Autumn.
    Dad

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  4. Yum. Between you and Blue Yonder you gals have me hankering for a big bowl of soup!

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  5. mmm.... that looks delicious. I'm cooking my soup tonight.

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  6. you actually made me want to cook. we'll see if action occurs.

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  7. ps. THE JAM IS SOOOOO GOOD!!!!!!

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  8. This is my glean from Molly's generosity day, I guess! First your serve Noah and me an excellent breakfast, then I come home and you answer an age old question for me, "Why is my soup ALWAYS cloudy?"
    It's the boiling of broth; who knew?
    Thanks for a great and gracious morning, and thanks for solving a big mystery in my culinary life.

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  9. Love the picture of your soup. Love your soup!

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  10. Sounds yummy! I'll give it a try.
    Rhonda

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  11. Those noodles from TJ's were a great find! And your chicken noodle soup changed our kitchen forever. Thanks, friend.

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  12. yummy! i can't wait to try out this recipe when it cools off down here.

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  13. An amateur method for making what some chefs wouldn't even call a stock. A few tips for anyone who happens to stumble across this blog...

    When making soup from the carcass of a bird which has already been roasted for a meal, it is best to cover with cold water and let stand a day in the refrigerator before you begin. When it comes time to make the soup, parboiling your carrots separately will help control unwanted sweetness and tint of your stock but, if nothing else, at least be sure to cook your noodles separately (you'll want them almost al dente and then rinsed with cold water to stop the cooking process) and add them to the soup when it's finished. In most cases, cooking pasta (or potatoes) in the stock results in a fiendishly undesirable amount of starch in the soup. And I won't waste any time telling you how silly it is adding bullion when you'd forgo mirepoix and bouquet garni. I wouldn't hesitate to make a soup from the remains of a meal as it is an excellent way to use all of your bird, but there is no substitute for making a genuine stock from scratch if you want your soup to be really good.

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