cook soup, stew, pottage, or chowder - PEP BB food.sand.soup

Potato and leek soup with homemade stock.

I simmered the chicken bones, meat, and veggie scraps for 12 hours. The next day, I used about 2 quarts of this stock cut with water to make the soup, simply adding potatoes, carrots, leeks, onion, garlic, chard, and seasoning. Once the potato softened, I mashed it against the inside of the pot to thicken the soup. After serving two people, there were 2 quarts left over. So nourishing!

Stuff I put in the pot:

Leftover roast chicken
4 carrots, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup dried soup mix (split peas, red lentils, pearl barley, rice)
Few sprigs of fresh thyme and rosemary

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
1 whole chicken (or 4 quarters of any sort)
2 large carrots, chopped
2 - 3 ribs of celery, chopped small
1 medium onion, diced
One pack or batch of egg noodles
Salt
Pepper
Celery seed/celery salt
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Basil

Instructions
1. Add the chicken to the pot and cover with water. Turn on high and cover. (Alternatively, use a pressure cooker to save time and energy)
2. Chop the vegetables and set aside.
3. When the meat is loose from the bones and the water has become yellow, remove the chicken and set in a bowl to cool.
4. Skim the pot with a mesh strainer to remove floating solids and any foam that has formed.
5. Add the vegetables and continue to boil.
6. When cool enough to touch, separate the meat from the bones and fat.
7. Once the vegetables have softened, season to taste. Add slightly more salt than you like as the noodles will absorb some of the saltiness. I like a good bit of celery salt as a key seasoning.
8. Add the meat back to the pot, along with the egg noodles and stir well.
9. When the noodles have softened, remove from the heat and taste. Adjust the seasoning as needed and serve.

Note: I meant to have a picture of the cut vegetables too, but got distracted with my son and added them in the pot before taking the photo.

Thanks to PEP, I finally asked my mom for her minestrone soup recipe and made it this evening.  I haven't met anyone who doesn't like her minestrone soup.  Noodles can be added, but really aren't necessary and just get soggy in leftovers.

Combine in a large pot:
• 4 cup water
• 1/4 head green cabbage 1-inch diced
• 2 to 4 leek whites, split lengthwise and sliced in 1/2-inch crosswise
• 2 stalls celery sliced in 1/8 crosswise
• 8 to 10 leaves of chard 1-inch diced (I used kale from the garden instead because that's what I have currently)
• Bring to boil, then simmer 10 minutes
• 1 large can of stewed tomatoes or equivalent fresh or frozen 3/4" diced (I used fresh)
• 1 can beans (I used my own black and white beans rehydrated in water over night)

In skillet heat a dash of oil over medium-high heat:
• 1/2 large onion 1/2" diced
• 1 lb medium Italian sausage (I used 1/2 mild and 1/2 hot because thats what the butcher had on hand)
• 4 toes garlic coarsely chopped
• Saute until browned
• Add to large pot
• Add a dash of water and an acid to scrape up fond in pan and add to large pot.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• 1/4 cup dried basil leaf crumbles
• 1/8 cup dried oregano leaf crumbles
• 3 to 5 fennel seeds
• Simmer for another 10 minutes.

Serve with some grated parmesan cheese.

Today I made Adas bil Hamod which is a lemon lentil soup. It's a new favourite of mine, my Lebanese fiance first introduced it to me. We are in her sister's condo now (condo-sitting for a little while) with a limited kitchen but luckily we brought a pressure cooker with us.

The ingredients are shown in the first pic, roughly 4 carrots, 4 potatoes, 1 onion, 2 bunches chard, 1 cup lentils, 6 cups water, 1 clove garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, juice from 1-2 lemons.

Basically you can throw everything into the pressure cooker for 10 minutes but we like to cook the lentils first so the vegetables don't get super soft. So lentils pressure cook for about 7 minutes, meanwhile fry the onions and garlic for a couple minutes, then everything goes in for another 3 minutes of pressure cooking. Should offer 4-6 servings.