Wednesday, December 10, 2008

The Ultimate Comfort Food...

...Homemade Soup
In Basic Foods class, the curriculum includes a unit in "combination foods" like soups and casseroles...so, this was "soup" week...The students make a cream soup and a clear soup...so today, we made homemade Chicken Stock. We have done this for years, but last year when grocery prices soared, I found it much more economical to purchase whole chickens. The butcher (who went to HS with my DH) cuts them in half...each group gets half a bird...and the bonus...the students learn how to cut up the chicken!
At first, no one wants to even touch it...they are reminiscing about disecting baby pigs in science...but then, after they got started...they did an awesome job. Aren't these pictures great?!
Here's the recipe for Homemade Chicken Stock:
Wash and clean 4 chicken pieces.
Place chicken in Dutch Oven with 6 cups of water.
Cover the pan and bring to a boil. Turn heat down so it can simmer.
Add:
1 carrot, cleaned and cut into small slices
1 stalk celery with leaves, cut into bite size pieces
1/4 of an onion, chopped
2 sprigs parsley
5 peppercorns
1/2 tsp. salt
1 small bay leaf
Simmer about 30 minutes.
Strain stock and place in container to refrigerate overnight. Place chicken pieces and cooked vegies in plastic bag for refrigerator overnight. Throw the peppercorns and bayleaf away.

So tomorrow we will skim the fat off the top of the stock...reheat...cut the cooked chicken into bite size pieces...
Add the cooked vegies and maybe some peas. Add noodles...cook and enjoy!
Yesterday we made our cream soup. The objective is to learn to make a roux... Here is an awesome recipe for Potato Soup.
Potato Soup
4 potatoes, peeled and diced

1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 stalk celery, washed and diced
1/4 onion, finely minced

2 tbsp. butter or margarine
2 tbsp. flour
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper

4 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled

Peel, dice and boil potatoes, carrots, and celery until fork tender. Pour through colandar to strain.
In large pan, melt butter and saute onion until translucent. Add the flour, salt and pepper. Stir to make a paste. Add milk gradually. Cook until bubbles and thickens. Add cooked vegetables and crumbled bacon. Enjoy!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great recipes and great pictures! I can imagine the comments about the chickens! Thanks for sharing. Deb

Alice said...

Whoo hoo, love potato soup, I'm making this tomorrow!! thanks

Anonymous said...

Your students look like they are having fun ! Love the recipes . Thanks for sharing a bit of your students too . Brings back memories .
Hugs
Deb

Suzanne said...

It was fun looking at these photos of your students. They look like they are having a great time -- your class must be a lot of fun (and they're learning about wonderfully practical things!)

MSM said...

I wish you were a traveling teacher and that you traveled straight to my house for a couple of weeks....

I'm definitely going to try the potato soup!

Kylie Bowers said...

Oh wow sounds Yum, Love Chicken Soup!

BittersweetPunkin said...

I love soup...such a wonderful comfort food! I love all the smiles!

Blessings,
Robin

Geri said...

I love potato soup. Great recipe, great pictures. The kids look like they're having a grand time.

Kindra-At Home With K said...

Thanks for sharing these recipes! They sound gooood! And the kids look like they are having fun. :)

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