Chicken soup and galas

Chicken soup with broccoli rabe and spinach.

Cold morning are made for chicken soup. I pulled out a packet I had in the cabinet:

I always have hope for these dried soup mixes that are ready in minutes but sadly this one really missed the mark.

Most of the flavor came from the canned chicken broth I added and the spices in the packet left a very odd aftertaste. 

I ended up just drinking the broth and fishing out the broccoli rabe and spinach((

But on a better note - here are some shots of the gala dinner:

Tyler Florence doing his cooking demonstration.

Salad with blue cheese, pears and walnuts.

Filet Mignon.

Dessert.

Brunch the next day was at a lovely location. This was the view from the restaurant patio:

A bunch of people headed over to the Ferry Building which was just down the street.

Stonehouse Olive Oil.

Who can resist tasty salted pig parts?

I was very excited to try the Cowgirl Creamery grilled cheese sandwich.

Yes, I know I just finished brunch but people rave about this sandwich - and I did share it with four other people so I just had a taste.

The Lancashire cheese had a custard-like texture with a nice lemony tang. I was on the fence about whether I liked it or not - but when I got a bite with the bacon and cheese all in one go - the flavor was sublime so it gets a thumbs up from me.

Chinatown.

Wow, I can't believe it is almost the end of the week!

Night, all!

Chicken soup take two

I apologize for the short posts lately.

I am still recovering.


And the stress of the doctor's appointment today didn't help.

I brought out the rest of the chicken soup for dinner tonight.

Yes, that is a dumpling/tortellini - I used some pot sticker wrappers - put a dollop of cooked chicken in the center of the wrapper - wet the outside rim and then into the simmering pot it goes.

The chicken soup was 200% better on the second day.

I am feeling better - but I am still gonna call it an early night.

 

Nectar of the gods

Homemade chicken soup is not a quick affair.

Even with the shortcuts I took (not using a whole chicken) - it still takes hours.

The gallon of water added at the beginning is now reduced by more than half.

After four hours of simmering - I turned off the burner and let the soup cool. Then I strained the stock and pulled all the meat off the drumsticks (discarding the bones).

You can choose to discard the vegetables at this point and add in fresh ones - but I just chopped up the ones that were in the pot.

I chopped the meat into chunks and everything went back into the pot.

At this point I added in a couple of pinches of salt and black pepper. 

I do have to say that what I love about homemade chicken soup is that when the bones are left to simmer for hours it gives a wonderful (very slight) mineral undertone to the taste of the soup.

That and the fact that I can control the sodium content.

The soup turned out wonderful!

If I was a patient person I would have skimmed off the rest of the fat floating on the top - but I am not patient :-)

This bowl was so much more satisfying than the canned chicken soup I got from 7-Eleven next door on Saturday.

Will it be a miracle cure? I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Lunch deconstructed

I decided in my current less than 100% state - making chicken soup from a whole chicken was probably overly ambitious.

I compromised and picked up chicken drumsticks and chicken breasts. 

The soup needs to simmer for hours so I got the soup started as soon as I got back.

Chicken, parsley, thyme and water go in the pot.

After it hit a roiling boil - I turned it down a simmer and dropped in one yellow onion (halved), two stalks of celery and two carrots.

Everyone in the pot!

I still had this in the fridge:

But I didn't feel like eating the wrapper - so it ended up looking like this...

Ahhh, now that looks much better :-)

I am off to babysit the soup!