| Miscellaneous
Chicken (Anything Goes) Vegetable Soup
by Jim Price
Falmouth MA, jprice@whoi.edu
Version 1.1, August, 2004.
It's a common circumstance --- some leftover, roasted turkey, or maybe just a little rotissary chicken that ended up in the back of the refrigerator. There are lots of good ways to use leftover turkey or chicken, and here's another one, chicken soup. This recipe is all about developing a rich flavor while retaining textures. There are just a couple of key steps to take note of, but so far as the ingredients are concerned, anything goes.
I am not claiming that there is anything new in this, but neither did I find this in a book. Let me know if you have suggestions.
My freinds tell me that this photo is really poor. I see what they mean. When I learn how to phtograph a bowl of soup I'll update it. In the mean time, don't be discouraged by the photo!
Ingredients
- 1 lb, very roughly, of leftover
turkey or chicken meat, and, most importantly, the carcass,
the stray parts (roasted), and all of the juices, brown bits,
and at least some of the fat from the bottom of the roasting
pan.
- 6-10 cups of bit-sized vegetables, which could include
matchstick carrots, red or green peppers, green beans, 6-10
stalks of celery, two medium onions, canned corn, a yellow summer
squash, mushrooms, etc., basically anything you can find in
the back of the 'fridge or coming up in the garden. Tofu? Sure.
- 16 oz can of sliced tomatoes.
- White beans, 16+ oz can, which
should be drained and rinsed, or up to 1/2 lb of dried beans,
which must be precooked.
- 1-3 chicken or vegetable boullion
cubes or equivalent (Knorr, or better is the chicken soup base from Minor's) depending upon the size and richness
(fat content) of the carcass. This seems a little like cheating,
doesn't it? But I'd suggest to do it anyway, in part you are
not going to extract much flavor from the vegetables (more on
that below).
- Spices to include, approx 3 Tbl dried Italian spices,
1 Tbl ground, toasted cumin, 1 Tbl ground, toasted coriander,
1-2 Tbl yellow curry powder, 1 Tbl paprika, 1 Tbl chili powder,
etc. 1-2 tsp salt, if needed; same for black pepper.
- 3-6 Tbl
olive oil, if the stock is w/o much chicken fat.
Preparation
Remove most of the meat from
the carcass and set it aside. Put everything that remains of
the carcass and pan drippings into an 8 qt covered soup pan and
cover with (good, drinking) water; boil slowly. In effect you are making chicken stock, though without
seasonings. You could add vegetables here --- onions,
carrots, celery, etc. just be sure to fish them out. This
stock is the essential ingredient for making a rich, flavorful
soup. When you think it's boiled enough, about two hours, remove all of the solids and recover any useful meat.
Add all of the seasonings and the tomatoes noted above to the
stock, and return to a slow boil for about ten minutes or so.
Check for salt and additional pepper. Here's the first key point
--- the flavor you are going to end up with in your soup is
the flavor you'll have now. Adding the vegetables
will not increase the flavor, and adding the reserved meat will
actually decrease the flavor intensity!
Now add the vegetables
in the reverse order that cooking time requires, say about 15
min for the carrots and celery, ten minutes for the green
beans and so on. The second key point --- be careful
not to overcook the vegetables --- you have already made
a flavorful stock, so there is no need to extract flavor
from the vegetables. Rather, the veggies add some interesting
color and crunch. White beans, which are excellent in this soup,
will thus require precooking of perhaps an hour. Shred the reserved
meat (much more interesting than cubes) and add it to the soup
with just enough time to heat thoroughly before serving; no more
than about five minutes is required.
I like to have soup broth that is clear, or at
any rate, not too cloudy or murky. A clear
broth will tend to be very thin, however, so you may want to add a little thickener, a couple of teaspoons of arrowroot.
To serve, consider adding a
small shot of vinegar for a little hot and sour character.
Chopped scallions are nice as a garnish. Goes well with cornbread
and beer.
This soup makes a great quick (leftover) meal and keeps in the refrigerator for at least a week. If you plan to keep most of the soup as a leftover, then you may want to cook the vegetables even less than described above; cook them just enough to sterilize and then finish cooking as you heat the soup prior
to serving.
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