Soup season | Nov 17

Soup season.

[Yum.]

Not that I don’t enjoy the goodness of a bowl of soup all the live long year–because I do.

[Aaaand by soup I mean soup and stew and chowder and chili. In a bowl the size of a hubcap.]

Fall is the wondrous time of year when you just don’t know if you’ll wake up to snow that will melt by the afternoon.

It’s sweaters and boots, and leaves in a brilliant array of colors.

Temperatures drop and then rise again.

There’s are piles of leaves to be crunched and crinkled through and snowflakes that appear out of nowhere.

And there’s soup.

[The recipes are stored in the same spot as clothes with long sleeves, shmumfy scarves, warm, woolen mittens, and knit caps with tassels.

Except I’m kidding–but a little bit not.]

The thing about soup is that nothing beats homemade.

Nothing.

There are certainly places to go when you’re craving soup and don’t have a moment to whip up a pot–but–nothing beats homemade.

It takes more than a moment to go the homemade route.

MSG [monosodium barf-amate glutamate] on the ingredient list keeps me from purchasing anything off of the shelf which means I don’t savor soup nearly as much as I’d like.

When I get around to actually making soup it’s a big pot of it.

A really big pot that will last and last and last.

Soup is dreamy.

[Aaaand by soup I mean soup and stew and chowder and chili. In a bowl the size of a hubcap. With biscuits, or bread, or cornbread, or something.]

I made a pot of chicken soup yesterday.

[I am an angel of soup goodness.]

That’s my bowl of deliciousness.

It’s not entirely made from scratch which definitely makes me a cheater resourceful little cabbage head.

Handsome Dude will often grab a roasted chicken on his way home from work.

That roasted chicken will serve or little family well.

We take the skin off first and then most of the meat [the wings are too small to mess with in my book].

We’re left with two piles: the meat we’ll eat in a variety of ways over the next couple of days and–the bones and skin.

[Warning: Don’t read that sentence out of context–you’ll be horrified.]

I put the second pile in a freezer bag and stick it in a freezer to freeze. ~grin~

Here’s the 4-1-1 on this chicken soup of deliciousness.

You’ll need:

–2 bags of frozen chicken bits ‘n’ pieces [you could use one, of course], thawed
–16 cups of water in a large stock pot [I mentioned that it would be a large batch of soup, right? ]
–2 large onions, chopped
–3 leeks, sliced
–3-4 stalks of celery, chopped
–3-4 carrots, chopped
–4 red potatoes, cut into 1/4″ x 1/4″ cubes
–3 bay leaves
–a 14.4 oz pkg of Baby Sweet Peas
–4 oz of noodles–or more–depending on what kind they are

[Add more or less of any of these ingredients. You’re the boss.]

Place the chicken bits ‘n’ pieces in the water and bring it to a boil.

This is when I do the chopping, slicing, and cubing.

Let the water boil 10-15 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to scoop the chicken bits ‘n’ pieces into a large bowl.

While that cools, add the chopped, sliced and cubed veggies to the broth.

Turn the heat down just a bit and put a lid on it.

Go back to the bowl with the chicken bits ‘n’ pieces and pull off the meat and chuck it back into the pot. Throw the bits ‘n’ pieces away.

[I added a chicken breast this time because it needed more meat.]

Once that cooked, I took it out of the pot and cut/shredded it into pieces–and then put the pieces back into the pot.

[Just so you know–because the chicken’s already cooked, it’s already seasoned as well. That just means that I don’t have to do much seasoning myself.]

Let all that wonderful cook at a rolling boil until the veggies are tender–but not mooshy.

[Mooshy is boo unless you like mooshy.]

It should take about 10-15 minutes.

Add the peas at the very end. They won’t need to be cooked, just heated.

Now, some people will add their noodles straight to the pot. That only happens when I make fresh noodles.

[Which frankly doesn’t happen very often.]

I cook about 4 oz of noodles in a separate pot.

Doesn’t matter what kind of pasta you use. Cook it according to directions. Drain and rinse.

That’s Handsome Dude’s bowl of deliciousness.

Once the veggies are cooked how you want them, it’s ready to eat.

We spoon the much anticipated soup into our bowls and then add whatever amount of noodles we want.

The noodles are heated by the hot broth which makes it heavenly.

Serve your soup with a slice of hot bread, rolls, bread sticks, or crackers and slices of cheese.

That’s my bowl the second time we ate it.

It’s just so good.

Here’s Handsome Dude’s bowl [we don’t actually have assigned bowls in this house–I just really like the color mix].

I’m thrilled that he likes soup [Aaaand by soup I mean soup and stew and chowder and chili. In a bowl the size of a hubcap.] as much as I do.

Some of you might like the idea of buying the roasted chicken and using the meat specifically for chicken soup. You wouldn’t have to save the bits ‘n’ pieces like we do.

However you do it–please do it.

Soup is splendid for soothing a heart and warming up a body.

Long live soup.

If you have any questions–any questions at all–please feel free to ask them.

I will courageously answer them.

What’s your favorite kind of soup, anyway?