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Thursday, October 18, 2012

Rainy Day Comfort

It's a scientific fact.  Soup tastes better when it's raining.  As a bonus-homemade soup!


I started with some left over chicken carcasses I had in my freezer, covered them in a large pot with water, onions, carrots, celery, peppercorns, thyme sprigs, and garlic cloves and allowed it all to simmer for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.




I then strained out all of the "stuff" and kept just the liquid.  And voila!  Homemade chicken stock.  Seriously, it's so much better than the store bought packaged stuff--you can really taste the difference and control what goes into your soup.

I then sauteed onions, carrots, garlic, red potatoes, jalapeno, and zucchini for about 10 minutes.  I added a few whole sprigs of thyme (you can fish the twigs out of the soup later) and the chicken stock.  



After allowing the mixture to simmer until the potatoes were tender, I added a can of white beans, which I had drained and rinsed.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.  I also added a few pinches of red pepper flakes to mine-  I felt like it needed a little heat!

 Also, feel free to add Parmesan cheese.  Or try the trick where you place an old Parmesan rind in the pot while the soup is simmering to achieve a really great cheesy flavor.



Isn't it pretty?  I love the colors. :)

Sorry for the lack of measurements--if there's one thing I think my readers are figuring out about me, it's that I kind of just throw things in a pot until it tastes good!

11 comments:

  1. This is pretty! Found your blog through the blog hop! I love it! I'm your newest follower!!

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  2. Yum! I absolutely love soup and this looks amazing!

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  3. Hi Jen! That looks so yummy and sounds so easy...something I'm a fan of ;)

    I wanted to stop by and thank you for linking up with the "Almost Friday" hop! I hope you've met some new blog friends today!

    Oh, and I'm your newest follower!

    Christie
    http://satisfactionthroughchrist.blogspot.com

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  4. Found you over at Insert Sarcastic Remark here! :) This soup looks so simple and so delicious, just in time for fall. I love the idea of using homemade everything, the store bought chicken stock seems like it'd be full of sodium. No bueno. Thanks for sharing your recipe!

    Evani
    http://www.simplyevani.com

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  5. This is a serious question, which may sound dumb because I am NOT a cook- after the first round and you then "...then drained out all the stuff..." what do you do with THAT? Do you comb for bones and throw the rest back in, or discard? Don't laugh at me, I'm serious...

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    Replies
    1. Very valid question! I discard it--it's done its job!

      Chicken bones fall apart so much it would take too much time to pick through it all.

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  6. This looks good. I may have to try it. I'm a big fan of the throw whatever in the the pot and who cares about measuring method. I think measuring is more important when it comes to baking than it is cooking.

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  7. Ooo yum! That looks so good. I love homemade soup.

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  8. Hi...newest follower!
    Soup looks amazing but saying you had "leftover chicken carcasses in the freezer" was pretty funny!!

    http://www.boogiesnbooboos.com

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  9. wow this looks yummy i have to try it out! thanks for sharing

    I am following your blog check mine out! XOXO
    http://loa20s.blogspot.com/

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  10. you had me at chicken carcasses ~ LOVE your blog!! Nice to meet you :)

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