Sunday Suppers: Carb-Lovers’ Cream of Chicken Soup

This is a pretty easy soup to put together, as are most soups. I started with leftover turkey stock from Thanksgiving. Yes, it had been frozen, thankyouverymuch. To that, I added one happy chicken and poached him for about an hour or so. From there on out, it was simply a matter of seasoning, thickening and fattening up the broth and adding Whatever Came to Hand. Which was all pretty starchy. You can add whatever vegetables you want. Or make it with veggie stock to keep in vegetabletarian. Leave out the cream to make it vegan. As always, this is just a snapshot of how I made this particular batch. Use it as a template to make your own signature soup. Carb Lovers’ Cream of Chicken Soup

• approximately 3 quarts veggie/chicken/turkey stock. Preferably homemade. You can, of course, substitute canned or boxed stock.
• 1 whole happy chicken (or 3 pounds of bone-in chicken parts–dark meat is most flavorful)
• poultry seasoning, to taste
• salt and pepper, to taste
• juice of 2 lemons
• thickener of choice (roux, blended potatoes, or cornstarch slurry)
• about 1/4 cup heavy cream
• a few new red-skinned potatoes, diced a la the Anal Retentive Chef
• a bag of frozen peppers and onions
• frozen corn (even I thought that was a bit of overkill, but it needed to be used up)
• some noodles. I used some wheat noodles from the Asian grocery. I don’t remember the name because they just live in a zip-top bag.
• shredded or diced chicken meat

Bring stock to a boil for about 30 seconds (just to kill any baddies that might be lurking). Put in your happy chicken or chicken parts, return to a boil and then turn down heat to a simmer. Simmer just until meat is cooked through. The time this takes depends on whether you’re using the whole bird or just parts, so between twenty and 45 minutes. Remove chicken pieces from stock. Let cool for a bit. Remove skin and pull meat from the bones. I put all the bones in a freezer back and will make some stock with them later on. Squeeze in the lemon juice, and season the broth with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Thicken the broth as much or as little as you want in whatever way you want. Add in the potatoes and simmer about ten minutes. Add the noodles and simmer until just-barely-tender. Add in the rest of the vegetables and the reserved chicken. Heat through. Pour in a bit of cream and taste. Adjust seasonings as necessary. I served this with a drizzle of olive oil, cracked black pepper and some flat leaf parsley. And some sourdough bread on the side. You know, because it didn’t already contain enough carbs. You may do the same. Or not. ‘Tis but a Serving Suggestion. I hope this inspires you to make your own soup. It’s so easy, tasty and a great way to clean out the fridge and/or freezer. So, that’s it. Have a lovely day!