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!