Homemade Chicken Stock, Pressure Cooker Style

Homemade chicken stock is something I cook when I'm going to be in the kitchen anyway, working on something else. It only takes a few minutes to get it started - the real time is in the long simmering on the stove. Unless you have a pressure cooker and then it's done in 30 minutes! I'll tell you how to do it both ways and you may find that it's so easy and delicious that you make the switch to homemade more often.

Let's assume you have a new generation pressure cooker (not that crazy thing your grandmother used). Before closing it up for the pressure cooking part, we're going to take a few minutes to brown the vegetables and chicken to develop some wonderful flavor that will transfer to the stock as it simmers.

Start with a thin layer of olive oil and drop in 5 chicken legs or thighs with skin and bones intact for flavor. Brown nicely on all sides and move them to a plate for the next round. Rough chop the vegetables: one big onion, 3 or 4 ribs of celery with the leaves, and one carrot, preferably one which looks like this little headless carrot-man above. Add the carrot and celery to the pot and toss a bit to coat then brown these as well. 

  Remove these and follow with the onion just long enough to brown.  

Now add everything back to the pot and cover with water, at least 4-6 cups. Throw in 3 or 4 garlic cloves. They don't need to be peeled, just smashed a little. Some fresh parsley and a few sprigs of thyme are also good. 

IF you're using a pressure cooker put the top on now and bring up to pressure, lower the heat, and cook for 30 minutes. You will not believe how rich and deep the flavor will be in this broth! The pressure cooker drives flavor into the food rather than losing it to evaporation. The controlled high temperature creates a browning reaction that makes for amazing flavor development. (If you are using a stockpot instead, cover now and simmer - don't boil! - for 3 or 4 hours. You will probably need to start with more water also, 8 cups or so, since it will evaporate.)

(Only 30 Minutes later in the PC)

(Straining the broth through cheesecloth.)

You can see how incredibly rich this is, looking almost like gravy! If you're using it later, refrigerate and it will be easy to remove the fat layer from the top once it is cold. Otherwise, skim it off as best you can before adding this broth to your soup or sauce.

 Now, I find that the chicken often retains its flavor in the pressure cooker and is so tender it can be used for soup or casseroles. Taste it and see what you think. (If you've used the traditional method of 3-4 hours in a stockpot, it will not be fit for anything but the wild animals foraging through your nightly trash. Sorry, mum.)

Roasted Vegetable Black Bean Soup

Printable Recipe

Roasting the vegetables for this soup adds a depth of flavor that elevates this Black Bean soup well above the many others I've tried. The carrots and onion and garlic all sweeten in flavor and tomatoes lose their acidic edge in the roasting oven. And if you happen to be cooking something else one night, it's easy to slip in this pan of vegetables along with your roast or casserole or whatever and the next day you'll have them ready for your soup. 

Start with this. Peel and chop the carrots into thirds. Halve the tomatoes. Take the onion and sweet red pepper down to rough chunks about 1-2 inches square. They don't have to be pretty - we're just roasting now. And peel but leave the garlic clove whole. 

Now spread everything out on an oiled pan and drizzle a bit more olive oil on top. You'll need a total of about 2 Tbs of oil. Sprinkle with about 1 Tbs of dried oregano, unless you're lucky enough to have fresh. Salt and pepper the whole lot and slide it into the 350 oven. It will need about 30-45 minutes to soften up and brown a little here and there. When the carrots are cooked through everything else should be ready. About half way through cooking give everything a turn with the spatula, too.

Before and after pics. You can see that there's only a bit of browning but everything has softened up.

For the soup, add most of 2 cans of black beans to a quart of chicken stock in a large pot. I saw "most" because I like to hold back about 1/2 a can since this whole mix is going to be pureed. 

If you've just cooked the vegetables (rather than the day before) you'll need to let them cool a bit so you can handle them enough to chop them up. 

I take out the carrots and chop into a fine dice rather than adding to the puree. But everything else goes into a heap on my cutting board and gets a rough chop before dropping it into the soup.

Now that I've gone on and on about the puree here's the highly complicated way to make it happen: Stick a handblender in there are give it a whirl. Done.

Take it down to whatever level of creamy blended soup you want. I like a little something to bite on so I don't blend it into oblivion. 

Finally, add the carrots and remaining beans and let it simmer along for 20 minutes or so for the flavors to meld. Taste and correct seasonings if needed - a little more salt or pepper or even a pinch of sugar. Sometime I add a tablespoon of chicken soup base to enrich. Now ladle it up and give it a dollop of sour cream or sprinkle of cheese and enjoy!

THE SHOPPING LIST:

1 Large Onion
1 Clove Garlic
2-3 Carrots
1 Sweet Red Pepper
4 Roma Tomatoes
2 cans Black Beans
1 qt Chicken Stock
1 Tbs Oregano
2 Tbs Olive Oil

Cheaters Chicken and Dumplings

Printable Recipe

Chicken and Dumplin' comfort food on the table in 30 minutes? Yep, here's just the cheat to do it. I know, I know, Grandma can do it better, but this is a mighty good quick version that will lure you back for seconds every time. Here's the secret:

Get that cream o' chicken soup and a quart of stock bubbling along in a pot and I'll show you how to fake up some dumplins. I'm leaving out the "g"  because, who says dumplinG anyway?? Oh, and here's the soup seasoning: about 1 Tbs dry sage and a heaping Tbs chicken soup base for a flavor boost. I mix the base with a little hot water and whisk together before adding to the pot so it will disperse more evenly.

I use one can of any brand of quick biscuits. Roll each one out very thin, like less than 1/4" because you won't believe how much these things puff up when they hit the bubbling liquid. I use a pizza cutter to make rough little squares, again not very big because, you know, the puffing.

Now, your soupy base should be simmering by now, don't let it boil hard or too much will evaporate and you'll have a very salty result. If you can use no sodium broth it improves this recipe since canned soup is awfully high in salt. And don't get crazy and shake any extra salt into the pot without tasting! You won't need it, trust me. Drop in the soon-to-be-dumplins a few at a time to help them not stick together in an unattractive clump. I want my dumplins attractive, y'all.

And finally, give it the shredded chicken, around 2 cups. You're going to be eating in about 15-20 minutes! A note on the chicken: I use a very good brand of canned white chicken from Costco if I don't have left overs or haven't the time to pick up a rotisserie chicken from the grocery to pull off the bone. But you can poach some chicken breasts to tear up for this if you really want the extra hassle.

And that's it, you're done. And you don't have to tell anybody how easy it was, but thanks cousin Gina for not keeping your secret when everybody at the fam reunion loved this dish.

THE SHOPPING LIST

2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup

1 Quart Chicken Broth

1 Tbs dry or rubbed Sage

1 Tbs Chicken Soup Base

1 can Biscuits

2 cups shredded Chicken

Ultimate Tortilla Soup

Printable Recipe

Ultimate tortilla soup is rich and flavorful and works just as well without the chicken for a wonderful vegetarian alternative. This recipe has become my favorite of the many I've tried. I think it probably has a few more ingredients than others but takes no longer to prepare. And there are a few easy techniques I'll show you that enhance the flavor also. Here's the line up:

1 qt Chicken Broth (or Veg)
2-3 Tbs Butter
1 clove Garlic
1 Onion, chopped
1 Can Black Beans or Red Beans
1 can Diced Tomatoes
1 small can Chopped Green Chilis
2 cups Corn, frozen, fresh or canned
2-3 Tbs Sugar
2 Tbs Cumin
1 Tbs Oregano
2 Tbs Chicken Soup Base 
1-2 Cups Cooked Chicken
1-2 cups water

Start the pot with a quick saute of onions in butter over medium heat to sweeten them up. Within about 5 minutes they'll soften and you can add the pressed or chopped garlic.

Immediately follow the garlic with the sugar, cumin, and oregano and stir steadily for just a minute or two. This will intensify the flavor of the herbs and give the garlic a moment to sweeten. Don't let it go longer though because that garlic can move from sweet to bitter in a flash.

Now add all the rest of the ingredients: broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, and green chilis and 1 cup or so of water. Before you add the soup base, whisk it with a little hot water and  it will disperse more easily into the soup. As I've mentioned before in other soupy posts, a good soup base concentrate is loaded with flavor and will improve an already great soup; it's the secret of many restaurants for soup and sauce making. And let me define "good" soup base a little further. It will not look like artificially colored yellow lard. It should smell good and be creamy and have an appetizing list of ingredients, as if a good soup had been  reduced to a very thick condensed form. I like the brand, "Better than Bouillion" which can be found near the bouillion and soups in most any grocery. Higher end groceries and gourmet/specialty food shops have my all time favorite brand called Minors. It can be kept frozen and is well worth stockpiling if you ever see it.

OK, raise the heat until you get a nice study bubble and add the chicken; let it go about 30 minutes and your soup is ready to eat.You can use pulled chicken from leftovers or a rotisserie ready-cooked type or a really good brand of canned white meat chicken. Costco's Kirkland brand is so good I keep it on hand all the time, especially since this is a quick soup I make if we have unexpected company or get the whim for a quick hot lunch at home...

Which is what I did today. Tortilla soup with a sprinkle of Mex cheese blend and a dollop of sour cream (plus smoked paprika for fanciness). One cheesy quesedilla: slap some cheese of your choice between two tortillas and toast it up in a buttered skillet like a cheese sandwich - a few minutes on each side until browned and the cheese is melty. I made this one with a grainy corn tortilla and good old Longhorn Colby.

Vegetable Ham and Bean Soup

Printable Recipe

This recipe combines vegetables and cannellini beans for a hearty, more interesting soup than ordinary Ham and Bean. Leftover hambone from the spiralcut Honeybaked? Bring it on. Best way ever to flavor this soup and not let a perfectly good hambone go to waste, especially the sweet amazing flavor of holiday Honeybaked! I'm not doing a commercial. Really. Just a fan, that's all.

Let's start the pot with that famous trio onion, celery, carrot - about a cup of each.  These need to saute over medium heat in 2-3 Tbs butter  just 5-6 minutes to sweeten a little and start to soften. While that's going on, let's check out the hambone and get the other ingredients together.
First, hambone: I'm assuming most of the ham has been cut away, but if there's still some hanging on that won't really slice into manageable pieces, just leave it. As it simmers in the soup it will get so tender you can use a fork at the end to scrape and coax loose some pieces for the soup. When the vegetables have sauteed a bit, add 1 quart of chicken broth and a drained can of cannellini beans. You can use white beans if you like, but I prefer cannellinis for their firmer texture and slightly larger size.

Bring this to a simmer while you prepare some potato to add. I used small red fingerlings, about a cupful that I washed and left unpeeled then sliced into 1/4" rounds. Any potato is fine, just keep the pieces fairly small so they'll cook promptly with the other vegetables. We're going for a soup that is ready in about 30 mintues here which means No Big Potato Chunks.

This soup doesn't need much seasoning beyond the hambone. I gave mine 5 or 6 good hard shakes of black pepper and a pinch of dry mustard. Added one bayleaf, too. I ground some fenugreek seed, maybe a tbs or so, because I like the flavor that is milder than cumin, but somewhat similar, and a little sweet. It's used as one of flavoring agents in fake maple syrup, so maybe that's the element that makes it seem like a good fit for hammy soup. Try fenugreek seed and grind it yourself in a small coffee grinder (well washed!). The flavor is always better if you can grind fresh.

That's it. Don't worry if that hambone is not completely immersed in the soup. Let it simmer for half an hour, maybe flip the bone over halfway through, and give it a taste. If the vegetables are cooked and the flavor is good, serve this up with some cornbread and eat up!

THE SHOPPING LIST:
1 can of Cannellinis (or White Beans)
1 Qt Chicken Broth
3 Tbs Butter
1 cup Onion, chopped
1 cup Carrots, chopped
1 cup Celery, chopped
1 large potato or 6-7 fingerlings, sliced/diced
1 bay leaf
1 Tbs Fenugreek
1/2 tsp dry mustard
Hambone

Summer Corn Soup

When the Farmer's Markets are in full swing I love to cook according to whatever I find that is freshly in season each week. It's actually too early for corn in our area but some delicious Georgia sweet corn showed up at a veg market near me and the left over ears from dinner were just enough for a light soup the next day. Not thick heavy corn chowder; that's for a winter night. This is a fresh, quick flavorful soup, just right for lunch or light dinner along with a salad or open face sandwich like this Jalapeno-Pimento Cheese. Whoa, not yet! We'll get back to that sandwich later.

On to the souping:

I had one ear of left over corn already cooked and one that wasn't. Corn cooks so quickly off the cob that both can go right in the pot together with a whole diced Vidalia onion, nice and sweet to match this corn. One red pepper such as this Ancient Sweet or red bell is fine also, all sauteed together over med heat  in 2-3 Tbs butter. About 10 minutes should be enough, just until the onions are  translucent.

Next, the spices and broth. I like to saute spices a little first to warm up their flavor before the broth goes in. I'm using only a tsp or so of this chili powder because it is chipotle and quite hot. Let your conscience be your guide (as my Nanny Hall used to say about how much butter to put in a recipe) - if you like it hot then go for the spice, as long as you don't burn out the taste buds of your family and friends. 

 I also added a little fresh ground coriander which smells like lime to me, very citrusy and much more fragrant than pre-ground. (I think this is a spice which very quickly loses flavor.) The test is this, if you open a spice and it doesn't smell like much of anything, throw it out, it's not going to taste like much of anything either. This is optional in the soup, you could actually use a squeeze of lime if you don't have the coriander or skip it altogether.

Richer Soup Flavor

Finally, I added a heaping tablespoon of soup base to the soup broth, whisking it into a small amount of broth first to melt it down, then adding that to the rest of the ingredients once it was well blended. This is NOT overkill on the chickeny flavor. It's a method of adding richness to the flavor that is already there. A long time ago I read in one of Virginia Bentley's hand-written cookbooks that the secret of richer taste in any dish is to add more of the main flavor already present. With vegetable dishes, I often add some Spike, a seasoning made from lots of dehydrated vegetables, or if the main flavor is onion, I might grate onion on a fine rasp to add extra onion juice to the dish. With beef recipes that require searing or browning meat, add some water or wine to the pan and scrap up the crispy brown bits and simmer that down to a concentrate to add loads of flavor back into your dish.

But, back to our soup in progress...let it simmer along for 30 minutes or so and ladle it up! If you'd like to make it the main dish, add some chicken. Or for Cuban or Mex style, add some shredded pork and a tablespoon or two of cumin. Crushed chips on top or a dollop of sour cream, or hey, both.

THE SHOPPING LIST
2-4 ears Fresh Corn
1 lg Onion
1 Red Sweet Pepper
1 Qt Chicken Broth
3 Tbs Butter
1 Tbs Chicken Soup Base
1 Tsp (Chipotle) Chili Powder
1 Tsp Coriander Seed, fresh ground

Jalapeno Pimento Cheese

Betcha thought I'd forgotten about the Jalapeno-Pimento Cheese Sandwich, huh? Did not. Mine never turns out the same way twice because I always just use up whatever the cheese bin yields and in my house there are often more than a dozen types of cheese at any given time in the fridge. I like to mix a pungent cheese, a mild cheese, and an in-between cheese together so this week I used Jarlsburg, Longhorn Colby, and a little Gouda, grated them all in the food processor, and used just enough mayo to stick it all together. Depending on how hot you like it, add 1 Tbs or so of chopped Jalapeno, and a small jar of chopped pimento. Those last two items are always in my pantry because I use them so often.  That was the bonus recipe this week.

Cutting Corn off the Cob

A note about taking corn off the cob. Use a sharp knife and cut straight down flat against the cob without gouging into the cob. Then flip the knife over to the dull side and scrap down one more time to release the starchy juice and extra bits of corn that were left behind on the first round.

  This is the milky starch that helps thicken skillet cooked corn. It's sweet and adds extra flavor whatever the recipe so I never let it go to waste.   

Using the back side of the knife will prevent
scraping fibrous pieces of the cob into the mix.