Recipe Thursday: Chicken Soup

Soup is wonderful on a cold winter's day. So warm and comforting.

Here's my first try at chicken soup:
Last weekend, after I made the chicken stock, and was dividing it all up for storage, I had some stock leftover that didn't fit in the containers. It was about a cup or two of stock. I set that back on the burner, and added about 2 cups of water.

Then, I chopped up 1 carrot and half an onion and added it to the pot. I used about a cup of chicken, and roughly chopped it up, adding it to the pot.

This is a good point to add spices, if you like. I used salt, pepper, and a bit of garlic powder. A bay leaf would have been nice, too, but it slipped my mind. This is also the time to add any extra liquid, if it doesn't look like there is enough.

I brought everything to a boil for a few minutes, then reduced the heat to a simmer. I didn't set a timer or anything, so just checked on it regularly. When the veggies were soft, I knew it was ready. It yielded a bit over 4 bowls of soup.

I was excited, because this time, the stock wasn't as bland as I've made it before. The soup was yummy, too, and here's a picture of it. I took it to work for lunch; it was wonderful with some of my biscuits. In the picture, you may notice that the tell tale signs of some fat in the stock. You can always regulate the amount of fat in your stock and soup by skimming more or less off as it simmers. Personally, I do think that a little bit of fat is a good thing, necessary even. Moderation, in everything, being key. Now, if only I could moderate my chocolate and ice cream intake...

How about you; do you enjoy a steaming bowl of soup when it is snowing outside? Do you have any tried and true recipes that you enjoy?

Poll Results! Plus, The Repercussions of Going Out of Town

My first poll was asking you, my illustrious readers, about what you would like to learn/have me prattle on. The winner was: Cooking! As a result, I will try to orient more posts towards cooking and various kitchen tips.

You may have noticed that this week's posts have been dominated by that theme. That occurred by a happy accident that left me with a relatively free weekend, desire to cook, and poll results that matched!

I still have a lot to learn about cooking, and about cooking frugally. Up to now, mainly what I've been doing is slightly more complex than the open container, dump, and heat method. I like having something ready quickly, but I don't like eating too many of these convenience foods. Plus, there is something more fulfilling, to me, about actually making something. From scratch. I really like making those biscuits for that reason, and I've been getting better each time! Last night, they were almost tender and flaky. I've started formulating a plan of attack for making them even flakier. I'm excited to see if it will work.

As you may have guessed by my current poll, I am going out of town shortly, on a business trip. While I'm not overly concerned with the cost of this trip, I am concerned with what the traveling will do to eating habits.
1 - why am I not concerned with the cost? Because I will get reimbursed for all costs associated with it. And, I am travelling on the cheap anyway. Since I am going places with which I am familiar, I have free lodging for most of th nights.
2 - eating habits? Yes. I'll be on the road, or speaking to groups of college kids for the majority of about 3 or 4 days. Short of packing up my own sandwiches and such, I know that my options will be limited by time and proximity. When I've been away, I find myself missing a kitchen or fridge or just the ability to go and make something simple, like a PB&J sandwich, to tide myself over till the next meal.

While I'm away, I know that I'll try to make the best choices I can, but do you have any tips for eating well and frugally on the road?

Recipe Thursday: Biscuits

It’s Recipe Thursday again! That means that it is almost Friday and the weekend. Today, I’m going to share the biscuit recipe I’ve been using to accompany my soups for the past few weeks.

The recipe I followed, from my Joy of Cooking, also found online.

 

As you may recall, as much as I love the precision of baking and following recipes, they inevitably end up as a guide for me. So, naturally, I did alter the steps and execution a bit. But only for the rolling out and cutting of biscuits.

Instead of a rolling pin, I used my hands to flatten the dough after kneading. This was for a few reasons: (1) it felt better to do so and (2) I have a French style rolling pin that I got in Novgorod in 2003. My rolling pin is very light-weight, and doesn’t really, well, roll things out very well. It sure is pretty, though!

Instead of a biscuit cutter or glass to cut out biscuits, I used one of my pastry knives/bowl scrapers to cut the dough into strips, then into rectangles. **An aside: what they are calling “bowl scrapers” I grew up calling “pastry knives.” I also used these to cut the butter into the flour mixture.**

Here is where I was confronted with a bit of a conundrum. I had lopsided rectangles and squares, not circles.  I figured that I could simply shape them into ‘biscuit-shapes,’ like one does with the inevitable remnant dough. To do so, I ended up folding each dough-quadrangle over onto itself several times, until I ended up with a rough circular, or at least oval-esque, shape. A more realistic yield is 8-10 biscuits.

I also omitted the “brush the tops with milk or butter” step. I almost always do. Partly due to laziness. Partly out of a desire to have fewer dishes to wash up.

I was not exactly expecting miracles or anything when I pulled them out of the oven, 12-15 minutes later. But what I found was pleasantly surprising. Layers! Holy Toledo, Batman, I made layered biscuits that sort of pull apart! (You can also see some homemade freezer jam in the picture, scrumptious!)

As far as flavor, they are basic biscuits. If you tend towards the 6 tablespoons of butter, as opposed to 4, they will be a bit more flavorful. They aren’t exactly flaky, nor are they as tender as the frozen Grands, but pretty darn good for a novice biscuit maker!

Why didn’t I just buy a bag of the frozen Grands? Because at $3.60 for a bag of 12 biscuits at my local Marsh (last time I checked), homemade biscuits are a heck of a lot cheaper. Especially since I did have everything on hand. Are you interested in a price-breakdown for biscuits? I’d be happy to attempt one.

Do you have a stand-by biscuit recipe that you love?