We eat a lot of soup around here. In the spring when the weather tends to be fickle and often wet and cold, soup seems like the perfect answer to combat the cold. Here lately, I’ve been doing some experimenting with chicken soups. Traditionally, I’ve never been real keen on chicken soup of any kind. In fact, as a kid it was my least favorite soup. So this new interest was a shocker to me when I found myself going back again and again to it.
It all started when a good friend brought me some chicken soup on an afternoon that found our entire household under the weather. Of course, I was very grateful for such a thoughtful service from my dear friend. I heated the soup up in a pot and served it to my family that evening and was surprised at how much I really, really, enjoyed it. Like I said, chicken soup was not my thing. But this… this was delicious. And perfect for all of our sicklies. I loved the broth. I loved the chunks of chicken.
Immediately, I began deconstructing this bowl of deliciousness so I could duplicate it and from here I became obsessed with making the perfect chicken soup. Since then I’ve created several versions and have discovered a few favorite ingredients that give excellent results every time.
Today I’m going to share with you my ‘must haves’ for chicken soup and give you a recipe to try out for yourself.
The Soup
Here’s what you’ll need:
- 1 stick of butter
- 2 large leeks with an inch of green, cut lengthwise, washed, and sliced
- 2-3 large celery stalks with the tops, sliced
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 4 cups of water
- 4 tsp.Orrington Farms chicken broth base
- 4 cups chicken stock ( you can also use 8 cups of water total with 1/3 cup of broth base and completely omit the chicken stock)
- 4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed in bite size pieces
- about 4 ounces of Mrs. Miller’s Pot Pie Squares
- 14.5 ounce can of peas & carrots
- 12.5 ounce can of cooked chicken breast
- 3 green onions
Melt a stick of butter in a pot over a medium flame. The butter is favorite ingredient #1. Don’t tell me it’s bad for you. Don’t tell me it’s fattening. Just put the butter in the pot and watch it melt. This will give your soup a delicious, rich flavor and will season your veggies so well you won’t need to add any salt or pepper.
Toss in the leeks, fave #2, and let them soften for a few minutes. Leeks are great for chicken soup. It’s one of those veggies that tends to be completely ignored by the American masses. That, my friend, is a real shame because leeks can add wonderful texture and flavor to soups, especially chicken soup and potato soup.
Now, toss in your celery and let it go for another couple minutes. Toss your garlic in and only give it a minute or two before the broth. You don’t wanna burn it and if you don’t watch it, it’ll be brown before you realize it.
Now here’s where the magic happens. Put your broth base into the bottom of a large measuring cup. You will want Orrington Farms Broth Base chicken flavor, favorite #3. You will find it in my amazon store in packs of 3, but you can probably pick it up at your local grocer. Don’t skimp on this. The flavor in this broth base is out of this world. It will make your chicken soup. So anyway, stir in the amount of warm water you are using depending on your choice to use stock or not. Either way is up to you, but the stock will give your soup a little less richness. Some people like that. Stir the broth base until it is mixed well with the water, then add it to the soup.
Bring it to a boil. Throw in your potatoes and the pot pie squares. Pot pie squares – favorite #4. Mrs. Miller’s Old Fashioned Pot Pie Squares. I like the one inch size. I buy these from my local produce co-op, but you may be able to find them in a store near you and, of course, in my amazon store. Bring this all to a boil. When you’ve got a good boil, lower the heat to a steady simmer and cook until the potatoes and noodles are tender.
Add the can of peas, the chicken and green onions. A word about the chicken here. I hate canned meat. With a passion. Any type of canned soup, or any other canned food with meat in it is just disgusting to me. You can imagine my great surprise to learn that canned chicken in this soup was actually good for eating. I’ve learned also that the grade and brand of the chicken does not make much difference in this type of soup. It’s the broth that does the work all the way through the soup and makes even the cheapest can of chicken taste wonderful.
Heat this through and serve.
You can take these special ingredients and pair them with a variety of veggies to make a flavorful chicken soup. Use your imagination and share your favorite here in the comments.
-knittingprose
