For the most part, I am a summer person. I have friends and family living in areas where there is little to no change of the seasons. They say I would miss the colder seasons, I say, "Try me!" I don't like to be cold, to have to wear sweaters and coats and scarves and hats and gloves and socks and boots and... well, you get the picture. Granted, it isn't that cold here yet, but it's coming. I know some of my friends living even farther north than me will tell me these winters are nothing compared to theirs, but still, I am not a fan of cold weather. I would much rather wear flip flops than socks and t-shirts than turtle necks. But one thing I do enjoy about the change of seasons and the cold weather is making big pots of hearty soup! I love soup; for me it is the epitome of comfort food and when it is cold outside, it warms me up! That's not to say the only time I make soup is in the winter and fall, I make it all year, but in the cold weather, my soups, like most cooks', tend to get thicker and heartier.
I think I can attribute my love of soup to my mom. Growing up we had homemade soup a lot. But during the holidays, especially Thanksgiving we have certain recipes that we never change, one being the stuffing. Every year mom makes this fantastic Oyster Stuffing that she is never allowed to alter. So one place that she really shows her culinary flair is in the soups she serves. We have had some wonderful soups over the years, carrot soup, pumpkin soup, and apple soup to name a few. These soups always have some unique quality to them that make them more than just a puree that resembles baby food. Her soups always pop; not necessarily a hot and spicy pop, but always a flavorful wow. I will eventually dig up those recipes from her archives and will add in later posts.
As kindred spirits in soup making, mom and I share soup recipes but also share our thoughts with each other on yummy soups we have found while dining out. Mom was the first to point out the great Won Ton soup at a local Chinese restaurant in Hanover. This soup is out of this world! I have had other Won Ton soups that use stock that is too heavy and sometimes greasy. While flavorful stocks are always a plus in my book, there are differing degrees of flavorful, full and robust to light and mild and a large variety in between, but greasy is never ok. The broth in this favored Won Ton Soup is light and clear, yet it has a wonderful flavor to it that I hope to one day recreate. I haven't yet figured out all of the flavors I am tasting in their broth, so I may need to keep going back until I figure it out! The other thing they do right is the dumplings. Some dumplings are chewy and thick, these dumplings are made with thin sheets of dough that are cooked to just the right consistency. The dumpling filling is mild so as not to overpower the delightfully light broth. While their broth and dumplings alone make this soup a step above other Won Ton soups, it doesn't end with just broth and dumplings. They also have thin strips of chicken breast that are tender and juicy, You can tell that this chicken has not been sitting in a pot of soup that was allowed to boil all day on the stove and loose its flavor. It is chicken breast that has been sliced or pounded thin, cut into strips (but not julieened), sauted and added right before it is served. It also includes snow peas that still crunch when you eat them and spring onions to finish it off. It is so light and fresh and just delightful. As I said, I really like this soup. :) I plan to try and recreate this lovely soup someday, but that will come later.
The most recent soup to come out of my kitchen was after Thanksgiving, but before getting to the soup, let's first talk stock. I confiscated the turkey carcass from Thanksgiving dinner at my mother-in-law's and use it to make stock. If you have never done this before, it really is not that difficult. It is time consuming, but I think well worth it. A book that I refer to a lot for soup ideas; Dairy Hollow House - Soup and Bread, A Country Inn Cookbook is a great tool for learning how to make great stocks and how to build on that to make great soups. Keep in mind that this process is not a fast one, give yourself plenty of time and some very large pots and bowls with which to work. If you have no desire to make your own stock, there are some good quality store bought versions available that can be used to make a tasty soup. But if you give yourself a day, you can make large quantities of stock to freeze and have available for soup recipes whenever it is needed.
When making stock, I start with a pot that has a built in strainer, the kind you typically use to cook spaghetti. I use this for ease in removing the soilds from my stock at the end of the cooking process. I had an "a-ha" moment last year to use this type of pot for easier clean up. I take the carcass and break it up to fit in a pot. This includes snapping some of the thinner bones to realease the marrow for flavor. I know to some breaking up the carcass and breaking the bones may seem rather gross, but hey, I am a carnivore. (If this really is something you can't do, there are some great receipes in the above mentioned book for vegetable stock.) After I fit the bones in the pot, I add a few stalks of celery cut in big pieces, a few carrots cut in big pieces, a few onions quatered, but not peeled. That is my base, if I have peppers, leeks, spring onions, I add that too. I then take a fresh parsley, rosemary and thyme sprigs, tie it with kitchen string and add it to the pot along with a few bay leaves, sea salt and fresh ground pepper. I then fill the pot with water to cover the ingredients, let it simmer for about three or four hours. I will skim the fat and scum off the top every 30 minutes or so. Do not boil, this is how it gets cloudy, just let it simmer (tiny bubbles).
When the stock is ready, take the pot to the sink and bring your trash can close to the sink so you don't make a huge mess on this next step. Pull up the strainer insert and let all the stock drain into the pot, dump the contents of the strainer into the trash, that easy! Well, not entirely because you still need to strain the tiny solids from your broth, but certainly easier than trying to fish out all the solids by other means, believe me I know from experience!! It is usally at this point that I have to immediately tie up the trash bag and remove it from the house because the lovely smells have caught the attention of Maggie, our golden retreiver/yellow lad mix who stations herself next to me in the kitchen to catch anything that drops on the floor!
Next, set up a large measuring bowl beside your pot, get a hand held strainer and line it with a damp cheese cloth. Holding the cheese cloth lined strainer over the bowl, ladel your stock into the strainer, this allows your lovely stock to pass through but those little bits to stay behind. At this point I usually wash the pot I used to make the stock, and return the stock to the pot. I will admit that I then allowed the stock to cool in the pot to room temperature and then stuck it in the refrigerator and never had any problems with getting sick. After reading on several websites that this is a breeding ground for bacteria I decided that while I never had a problem before, better safe than sorry so from now on will use the recommeded methods to cool the stock.
To cool the stock, sit the pot in the sink and surround it with ice and water, stirring occasionally to get the temperature of the broth to cool down faster, this takes about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Once the stock has cooled completely, cover and refrigerate. I usually let it refrigerate overnight. The next morning any additional fat has risen to the top of your stock and hardened, simply scoop that off the top and you are left with a flavorful stock that is not greasy.
One additional thought on making stock... I have made stock for many years, but the past two times I have made it, the next day it was very gelatenous. I don't remember this happening to me before. I originally blamed this on the type of turkey carcass used. The past two years at Thanksgiving dinner at my in-law's we fried our turkey. It was very good, but I thought that perhaps the increased amount of fat from frying caused the gelatenous consistency. When I researched this, I found, on several sites, that the collagen in the turkey bones naturally turns to gelatin in the simmering water. My only thought on this is that in the past I used a very large pot that could hold the entire turkey carcass without breaking it up and less collagen was released. The past two years I have used the pot with the strainer insert, that while just as big in volume, is narrower and required me to break the carcass into several pieces. I am guessing that by doing that, more of the collagen was released into the water, making the broth have a more gelatenous consistency when chilled. Rest assured that when it is heated, it looses that consistency and is a silky, tastey stock. :-)
The following recipe can be used with left over turkey from Thanksgiving along with your stock, or with left over chicken and chicken stock. If you have no left over chicken or turkey, just saute some chicken breast and shred. I prefer shredded chicken or turkey to big hunks, I think the big hunks take away from the other flavors in the soup.
Southwestern Turkey Corn Chowder with Cilantro
1 lb turkey or chicken, cooked and shredded
2 qts turkey or chicken stock
4 small potatoes, scrubbed, peeled and sliced
3 cups corn
1 T honey
2 t Worchestershire sauce
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
1 T chili powder
2 t cumin
3 T flour
2 T butter
1 c milk
1 c heavy cream
Fresh Cilantro
In a large pot, bring broth to a boil, add diced potatoes and cook until fork tender, ~10 minutes. Stir in honey, worchestershire and corn, simmer for additional 10 minutes.
Meanwhile in another pan, saute the pepper and onion in a little olive oil. Melt butter, then add flour, chili powder and cumin. Cook until thick and bubbly, gradually add milk, stirring until thickened, ~1 minute. Add to corn and potato mixture. Transfer a few ladelfuls to a blender or food processor and puree. Return to the pot, gently stir in the heavy cream. Add chicken. Chop cilantro - a good handful, or less depending on your likeness - and add to pot.
Enjoy! I always believe in giving credit where credit is due. While there are basic ingredients to all chowders, this recipe is an adaptation of a corn chowder recipe from Dairy Hollow House - Soup and Bread, A Country Inn Cookbook.
I like this soup because it is creamy, but not so thick that you think you are eating dip rather than soup. Also, the spice adds a nice flavor to the soup but not so spicy that my kids can't eat it. Of course, they still complain about the leaves!
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