Chicken Noodle Soup

We got fresh chickens at the farm ($5/lb! sheesh, but I had to try). I decided that rather than roast the chicken, I was going to make soup! This recipe is not for the faint of heart, but its not too tough. You need about 6 hours to make the stock and it needs to be stored overnight before you can make soup, so plan ahead. The first day is hard. The second day makes it worth it. 

one whole chicken
carrot (I used 9)
onion (I used 2)
celery (I used the equivalent of 7 or 8 normal stalks)
salt
pepper

sage

thyme

rosemary

3 bay leaves

1 lb. egg noodles

Lets start with the fun part. 

See that chicken over there on the counter? The one that is delightfully whole? All connected and chicken-looking? 

Rip off its skin. This is gross, trust me. If I had known how gross, I might not have made stock from a fresh chicken. 

Get a knife (or do what i did and PULL it apart). Cut that chicken into pieces! Grab the leg and pull it off! Break the wings!! Crack the ribs!! Don't forget to remove the giblets! 

The chicken should be in small parts, maybe 3-4 inches each. Bonus points for breaking bones, because you'll get a tastier stock. 

Place all parts, bones included, in a large stock pot. 

Fill the pot with water and bring to a boil.  

Throw in some sage, rosemary, and thyme for good measure. 

Simmer for six hours, four at the very least. Hang around the house and drool. 

As it simmers, you can skim some of the scum off the top but try not to disturb the chicken too much. The more you disturb the chicken the cloudier the stock will get. 

After six hours, cool the stock. I did this by filling my sink full of ice water and putting the pot in it. Once the pot is in the water, stir the contents until it cools. Voila! If you are patient and have counter space, you can let it cool on the counter top. Whatever you do, DON'T put it right in the fridge while its hot. Unless you like the taste of bacteria. 

Next day, pull out your stock. All of the fat you didn't skim while it was cooking should be floating in there on the top. Skim that off now. 

Throw in the carrots, onion, celery and spices. 

Bring to a boil. 

Simmer until the carrot and celery soften. 

Add egg noodles and cook until they're done. 

EAT. 

(See? The second day IS worth it. Its when you eat.)

Two-fer: Stuffed Peppers and Tomato Soup

I had 5 peppers and about 20 tomatoes laying around the house so I decided to get a-cookin! The beauty here is that both recipes call for onion and garlic, so I just carmelized a bunch and split it between the two recipes. I got the soup "method" from my Aunt Celia. I used a food processor to make the soup, but a blender will work fine too.

To start:
9 onions (mine were small), coarsely chopped
9 cloves garlic (or to taste), coarsely chopped

For the peppers:
1lb ground turkey
5 bell peppers (any color)
1 red frying pepper, chopped
seasoning of your choice (I used italian seasonings)
1.5c. cooked rice
1 tomato, chopped
salt
pepper
1/2c. ketchup
1/2c. beef stock
tabasco or hot pepper (minced)

For the soup:
as many tomatoes as you have ( I realize not everyone has 20!)
basil
italian seasoning
4c. chicken stock

So, to start, lets get those onions cooking! Heat skillet and add a little but of olive oil.

Once oil is heated, throw in onions and garlic, cooking until tender, about 20 mins (longer if you're patient. I am not).

Remove from heat and set aside.

Stuffed Peppers
Remove the tops from the peppers and clean the seeds out from the inside. Wash, and set in baking pan.

In a bowl, combine turkey, pepper, tomato, seasonings, 1/4 of the onion/garlic mix and rice. Mix well.

Stuff into peppers.

In a bowl, mix the ketchup and stock together until blended. Add tabasco or hot pepper mince to taste.

Spoon topping over peppers. Bake at 350 for 45 mins.

Notes: Alternately, you could cook the turkey before stuffing it into the pepper. I like it uncooked because then the pepper is filled with a little turkey meatloaf :) Pasta/spaghetti sauce could be used as a topping, but I prefer the sweetness of the ketchup. These freeze well. In fact, I made them for dinner but then the husband wanted grilled cheese, so they cooled on the counter and went right into the freezer. Freeze in baking pan, then bag them once they're frozen. This makes it easier to only have one or two at a time for dinner.

Tomato Soup
Get some water boiling in a large stock pot.

While you're waiting for it to come to a boil, turn all your tomatoes upside down and cut a tiny 'X' on the bottom of each one. This is useful, trust me.

When the water boils, throw the tomatoes (a few at a time, you don't want to overcook them here) into the pot. Retrieve after a minute.

This is where those X'es come in handy. Start there and remove the skin from the tomato. Place the tomato aside. Remove the skin from all tomatoes.

Discard the water and rinse your stock pot.

Remove the cores from the tomatoes and place in a food processor a few at a time. Process until smooth and all chunks are gone. Pour the puree into a stock pot.

Puree the onion/garlic mixture and pour into the stock pot.

Add your seasonings and the chicken stock. Simmer for an hour, letting all of the flavors blend.

Note: You could use veggie stock or omit the stock entirely.

italian sausage soup

When I make soup, I MAKE SOUP. Soup is easy to reheat, freezes well, and if frozen right, takes up very little freezer space. I suck with the whole picture thing. Maybe I'll get one up tonight of the final product, but I keep forgetting to take pictures of the process. Besides, then I have to keep stopping and washing my hands to take a pic!

1lb italian sausage (pork or turkey, hot or sweet)
1/2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4" in half moons
1/2 medium summer squash, cut into 1/4" in half moons
1 green pepper, chopped
1 1/2 red 'frying' pepper, chopped
28oz canned diced tomatos
2 fresh tomatos, chopped
garlic, to taste (I used 7 huge cloves)
1-2 onions (I had 1 1/2, so I used that)
some kind of pasta (I used TJ's Healthy Harvest mix of orzo, quinoa and something else)
chicken stock, fat free, low sodium
fresh ground pepper.
italian seasonings (I have a pre-mix)
olive oil (I have the Misto, best invention ever)

Remove sausage from casing, if necessary. Squish around a little with your hands to get it to a more ground-like consistency.

Coarsely chop the garlic and onion. Add to an oiled skillet and saute a few minutes, until onions are almost translucent.

Add the sausage all at once and mix around in the pan. Use a spatula to break up the sausage as it cooks, so that it is more like ground sausage. Break it into as big or small pieces as you want.

Drain the sausage, garlic, onion mix and set aside. In same skillet, add peppers and zucchini and cook until just tender.

Place the sausage and pepper mixes in a large pot (a stock pot is best).

Add chicken stock to desired consistency. If you like a thick stew-like soup, use less. If you like a thinner soup, use more. I ended up using a little more than 64 oz. If you're going to add rice, or some kind of grain that will soak up water as it cooks, adjust the stock accordingly.

Sprinkle the top with pepper and italian seasoning. Bring to a boil.

Add pasta, or other grain. Simmer 20 mins.

Ladle into bowls and enjoy. We sprinkled the top of ours with parmesan cheese, and ate it with fresh baked bread I got at a small shop on the way home.

Soup can be frozen in containers, or in freezer bags. To freeze, let soup sit til cool (this will take awhile) and ladle into the proper container. If you're using freezer bags, freeze flat on a cookie sheet or on the bottom of the freezer to save valuable freezer space.