Homemade Chicken Soup, even if you didn't roast a whole chicken yesterday

So sometimes you have to have chicken soup, and you don't have a carcass to render meat and broth for the endeavor. OR you are too sick to be doing major cooking.  This is the case for me today. Olivia came over and made chicken soup for us, because we have the flu and can't do it ourselves. This is what she did:

* 3 boneless-skinless chicken breasts, still frozen
* 3 boneless-skinless chicken thighs, still frozen
* water to cover
* chicken bouillon cubes to make 4 cups (I use those 2-cup cubes, so 2)
a bag of frozen mise-en-place vegetable mix, or 1.5 cups each of diced frozen onions, celery, and carrots. You can really use any kind of soup veg mix, but I think carrots/celery/onion are indispensable to good chicken soup.
* a bay leaf
* seasoned salt and black pepper to taste
* more water if needed, or premade chicken stock
* 1-2 Tablespoons cornstarch mixed with about 1/4 cup cold water

Put the chicken into a 4-quart saucepan with enough water to mostly cover it up, throw 2 bouillon cubes in there, put a lid on it and bring it to a boil. Cook it until the chicken is done, and can be easily shredded.  Remove the chicken from the broth, reserving it, and shred the chicken up or dice it into small bite-sized pieces. (If you like the shred, and have a stand-mixer, the easiest way to shred cooked chicken is to toss it in the mixing bowl and use the white paddle attachment [not the whisk] on low-medium speed. Done in a minute. Otherwise, two forks will do the job, longer but more cost-effective than buying a Kitchenaid.)

Return the shredded chicken to the broth, add in your vegetables and the bay leaf, and evaluate whether you have enough broth for this soup. We had to add more water and bouillon cubes. I didn't think about the quart of frozen homemade chicken broth I have in the freezer, or we would have used that. (I'll put it in tomorrow when I heat up leftovers.)  Bring it back to a boil.  By using frozen vegetables, you reduce the length of time you need for this part of the soup. Basically you have to cook it until the veggies are done, which is basically heating it through.

At this point, evaluate whether you want a clear(ish)-broth soup, or a thicker, creamier soup. The cornstarch doesn't make it creamy, but it does make the broth more like a gravy. The amount listed up there doesn't make a HUGE difference in the broth, only enough to give it a little more body. You can do flour/water slurry, whisked into the broth, if you want a thicker broth.

Notes: So the broth of this soup lacks the depth that comes from boiling a whole carcass, because the bones and fat really add a lot of flavor. That said, this soup is still SO MUCH BETTER than canned, you will not be sorry you took the time here. It is still an acceptable level of quality, without the bones and fat.

Polynesian Chicken

This recipe came into my life at a church group for young couples called Ceiling 70 (the name meant that your combined ages as a couple should be 70 or less, although there were exceptions in the latter part of our membership). The lady who brought the recipe to the cooking committee had learned it at Weight Watchers. It's low in fat, but it isn't low in sugar or carbs (since it's served over rice). However, it IS delicious. The first half is the original recipe, and at the end is a version modified for the stove-top or campfire.

Polynesian Chicken (Baked)
Serves 8.
Prep-time: less than 10 minutes; cooking time: 1 hour.

8 boneless skinless chicken breasts, thawed
1 packet onion soup mix
8 oz. Russian dressing
6 oz. peach preserves
1 regular-sized can of pineapple tidbits, mostly drained (a little juice or syrup is okay)
1 medium onion, halved and sliced thin
cooked rice

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Arrange the chicken breasts in a 9x13 casserole. In a mixing bowl, combine the onion soup mix, dressing, preserves, pineapple, and onions thoroughly. Break the onion slices up a little bit.

Pour the mixture over the chicken. There's plenty to cover all of the chicken completely, so take the time to do that.

Bake for 1 hour. There's no skimping on this. If you crank up the heat, you'll burn the sauce before the chicken cooks through.

Serve over rice.

Polynesian Chicken (Stove-top)
Serves 8
Prep-time: less than 10 minutes; cooking time: 15-20 minutes

2 (12.5 oz) cans of white meat chicken, drained
1 packet onion soup mix
8 oz. Russian dressing
6 oz. peach preserves
1 regular-sized can of pineapple tidbits, mostly drained (a little juice or syrup is okay)
1 medium onion, halved and sliced thin
cooked rice

In a saucepan, combine the onion soup mix, dressing, preserves, pineapple, and onions thoroughly. Break the onion slices up a little bit. Heat and cook until the onions turn translucent and limp. Stir in the chicken, and continue heating until everything is hot.  

Serve over rice.

Notes:

The main difference between the two versions: What you save in time, you sacrifice in taste--at least a little. I don't particularly like canned chicken, but it works in this recipe well enough to make it a camp-out possibility. I prefer the portion-controlled whole piece of chicken, but if all I have is a propane stove or a campfire, canned chicken is great. 

I haven't found Russian dressing in less than 16 oz bottles, nor peach preserves in smaller than 18 oz jars, so of course it's half of the dressing and one third of the preserves. 

You can use regular-sized pineapple bits rather than the smaller tidbits (the size of the can is the same), but don't try to use crushed pineapple. 

Chicken Hash

Chicken Hash

from We Make You Kindly Welcome: Recipes from the Trustees’ House Daily Fare, Pleasant Hill, KY

This is one of Grace's favorites. I like it because it is made of things I normally keep in my pantry/freezer, I don't have to shop especially for it, and it can be made from shelf-stable items so I always have something I can make for dinner.

1 and 3/4 cups chicken broth (I often use bouillon cubes, and end up with two cups of liquid. It doesn’t really make that much of a difference, just a little more flour/water at the end)

1/4 cup chopped onion (can be fresh, frozen, or dried; if fresh, chop them fine so they cook through)

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/16 teaspoon red pepper (cayenne)

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon seasoning salt

3 and 1/2 cups cooked chicken, diced or shredded. (This can be a lot of chicken. If you don't have that much, don't worry about it too much. You'll just have more gravy.)

1/2 cup flour shaken with 1/2 cup cold water to make slurry

2 Tablespoons butter

Heat the broth and add the seasonings and the onions; taste before adding the thickening and adjust accordingly.

Bring to boil; whisk in the flour slurry until the consistency of gravy is reached. Remember it will thicken a little as it cooks, so it’s better to add about half of it right off, see how it thickens, and then you can add more. You may not need all your slurry, and if it’s too thick you need to thin it with more broth or water.

Add the chicken pieces and then the butter.

Serve with corn bread or wide chow mein noodles. I usually make corn muffins or hoe cakes. Those Jiffy cornbread mixes are great--six muffins or a mess of hoe cakes, and all you need is an egg and milk.

Gary's Favorite Hamburger Hotdish

In Wisconsin, casseroles are often called hotdish. This is a recipe from Grandma Lorraine Loomans, but its provenance prior to her is unknown. (This is not to say that she invented it; Lorraine does not profess to be especially creative in the kitchen.) It is indeed Gary's favorite, but I have not made it for years because of the carbs. Hans likes it, too.

Hamburger Hotdish
Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1/2 a medium onion, chopped (optional)
1 lb Velveeta, sliced or cubed
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can of milk
8 oz wide or extra-wide noodles, cooked and drained
garnish (chow mein noodles, sliced almonds, or french-fried onions)

Process
1. Brown and drain the beef and onions (if you want them). Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Prepare noodles as directed on package and drain.

3. While the noodles are cooking, make the sauce: over medium heat, blend milk and soups together, adding the cheese and stirring constantly until the cheese is melted.

4. Combine all into a large casserole or 9x13 baking dish. Heat in the oven for 20-30 minutes until hot through and bubbly. Sprinkle with garnish. If you go with almonds or fried onions, you can toast these an additional 5-10 minutes.

Notes
*Gary prefers chow mein noodles, and he likes them toasted on the top. I have found, however, that chow mein noodles do not make good leftovers. They get soggy. I have in the past sprinkled them over only half of the surface, since that was as much as I could plan on being eaten in one meal, and if additional cmnoodles were required, they could be added.
*You can use two cans of the same kind of soup. You can use any kind of cream soup, and the variation in flavor will only be slight.
*You can add steamed broccoli or cauliflower in the mix, if you wish to seen vegetables into your family's diet.

Grandma Fish's Barbecue Chips 'n Chicken

This is one of my husband's favorites. To him, this is birthday-dinner stuff. Fancier than Hamburger Hot-dish, and a little healthier. I believe it was a special-occasion dish because the original recipe had a LOT more prep work and pre-cooking before you ever got to mixing up the casserole, and my mother in law was a good cook, but ain't nobody got time for that. I don't think she made up this recipe. I'm pretty sure that it came out of a magazine, or someone brought it to a potluck and she asked for it, or it was one of her sisters' specialties. Anyway, I'm going to write it out (mostly) as I was given it, and in parentheses I'm going to write what I actually DO. It's slightly different because we live in a more convenient world than my mother in law did when she was making this casserole for her hungry teenagers. I have left out ingredients that pertain solely to cooking bone-in chicken breasts. If you want the WHOLE shooting match, leave a comment, and I'll put the rest in.

Ingredients
5 (boneless-skinless) chicken breasts, cooked. (You can substitute canned chicken or the meat from a rotisserie bird. In the original recipe, there's a long and detailed set of directions for cooking and boning the chicken breasts, because it used to be that you couldn't buy boneless chicken. See how far we've come? In any case, you need about 3 or 4 cups, give or take. The vegetables and chips don't take up much space, so you need more chicken, rather than less.)
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion (if you can find frozen, this makes life really easy here)
1/3 cup finely chopped celery (ditto)
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 and 1/2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup crushed cashews
1 cup crushed potato chips
1 cup crushed barbecue potato chips (you can use all bbq if you want. Pringles do not make an acceptable substitute. Just...no. Ew.)

Procedure
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Cook the chicken if you're starting raw. Cut it into 1-inch pieces, or shred it smallish.

Melt butter in a roomy skillet or large-ish saucepan (3- or 4-quart), and cook the onion for 5 minutes, stirring. Add celery and cook until softened but not brown. Mix in the celery salt and the soup.

Add the chicken, seasoned salt, sour cream, nuts, plain chips and half the barbecue chips (reserve a half-cup of BBQ chips for topping), stir to combine. Put it in a sprayed or buttered 9x13 inch casserole dish and top with the remainder of the chips. Heat through at 375, about 20 minutes.

Grandma Wendy's Fudge

For years I have held this recipe close. I showed my kids how to make it, let them help me, but I didn't write it down for them or encourage them to master it.

And today I asked myself, "What the heck is WRONG with you?"

My mother never intended this to be a secret. I'm sure it isn't an original recipe. (I think it's a Hershey's recipe from maybe the 30s. Or 50s.) I do in fact enjoy my status as maker of excellent fudge, but maybe I'm feeling my age (in my knees, principally) today. So in recognition of my own mortality, I am sharing Wendy's Fudge.

This isn't a straight-forward-any-idiot-can-make-it recipe. You can follow the directions and it will taste fine, but it probably won't set up right. It will either NEVER become solid (so you'll end up with a delicious ice-cream sauce), or it will set before you can get the peanut butter stirred in (and it will be hard and grainy as well).

But. You do not have to be a candy-savant to make it, either. A little information about candy-making in general, and a commitment to be single-minded in the making of this fudge, and you should be able to produce a reasonably delicious product.

A Word about Ingredients
The ingredients are simple, and there aren't that many of them. But you should be aware that not all sugar is equal. And for candy-making (and for creme brulee, too, for that matter), it is NECESSARY to have cane sugar. Do not use sugar from beets. (There is a minuscule difference in the chemical composition between the two, and that difference is the make-or-break of candy-making.) (On a side note, there is not currently any laws requiring producers to label the source of their sugar, but for purposes of purchasing, the rule is that if it doesn't SAY "cane," it probably isn't. Store brands which are not marked are most likely beet, so for the purpose of making candy, pony up and buy the national brand.) Sugar made from beets tends to burn at higher temperatures, rather than caramelize.

I have used non-Hershey cocoa powder with good results, so I don't believe that the name-brands are required here. If you have had bad luck with a certain brand, by all means, go with your heart and avoid it. I have used whole milk, 2%, and 1%, all with good results, and have used reconstituted evaporated milk as well (NOT to be confused with sweetened condensed milk, which would be a completely different recipe). If you use something besides table salt, be aware that measurements differ, and adjust accordingly. I use creamy store-brand peanut butter, not the natural or organic styles, nor do I use crunchy. It might confuse the issue at the end, when you're beating it to get it to set. But you could try it. In recent years I've turned into a little bit of a vanilla snob, so I don't buy imitation V anymore, but I did for ages and it works just as well.

Equipment
a 4-quart saucepan (anything smaller risks overflow during cooking)
a sturdy spoon with a comfortable grip
an accurate thermometer (you can test the accuracy of your thermometer by measuring boiling water, which is 212 degrees F) (If you don't have a thermometer for candy-making, you can approximate the correct cooking temperature by using the soft-ball test)
a saucer for soft-ball testing (optional)
a large pan or basin (for water or ice, to cool the candy more quickly) (you CAN do this in the sink, but you MUST be careful not to get water into the syrup)
waxed paper or parchment paper
a cake pan or brownie pan (to contain it while it sets)

Sursum ad summum, then.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups granulated cane sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup peanut butter (my mom said "3 globs" or "3 forkfuls", so I'm estimating)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Procedure:

1. Line the brownie pan with waxed or parchment paper and set aside. 
2. Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly.
3. Stir in the milk, and cook over medium high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, and continue to cook until the boiling level drops about an inch from its highest level.
4. As the level nears this point, start testing the temperature. The syrup needs to be between 235 and 245 degrees F. From personal experience, I can tell you that it works better for all involved if you aim for the lower end of the range. (Alternately, you can use the soft-ball test by dropping a small amount of the boiling syrup into a saucer of cold water. Push the syrup together with your fingers and try to pick it up. The candy is the right temperature when the syrup can be pinched into a soft ball and picked up from the water. It holds together but is still squishy. If you need to repeat the test, get fresh water. Be very careful not to get water into the syrup.) 
5. Remove the pan from the heat and set it in a shallow pan of cold water or ice, once again being careful not to get water into the syrup. Add the peanut butter and the vanilla now.
6. When the pan is cool enough to handle, remove it from the water and dry the bottom, and using your sturdy spoon, start beating the fudge. You want to mix the peanut butter and vanilla in, and to start beating air in. If you've overcooked it, the fudge will set immediately, and will be hard and grainy. If you haven't cooked it enough, it will never set completely. On days of high humidity, the window between too much and not enough is even narrower. The longer you beat it, the smoother it will be. Beat the fudge until it loses its glossy appearance, and the trail of the spoon through the mix holds its shape and doesn't disappear. If you want to add nuts, this is the place to do it, but you have to be quick.
7. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth it out a little if possible. Let it cool. (You do not need to refrigerate it.) Lick the spoon and scrape out the pan while waiting for it to set. 

Notes: 

• I have, on occasion, tried beating it with an electric mixer. If the humidity is high and the fudge does not want to set, this can help you get it to a more solid state, though it may never set completely and might need to be refrigerated. 
• My mother spoke of listening to the syrup while it cooked, and being able to hear a change in its pitch when it was ready. In 45 years of observing and making this candy, I have heard it change pitch twice. I believe this is because I am unaccustomed to listening to the tone of something not overtly musical, so I have a harder time. Also, there's a lot of noise in the kitchen in the winter. 
• The pan I use and have always used is a Revere Ware copper-bottom 4 quart stainless steel saucepan. I do not recommend making this in an iron pot, simply because it would be very difficult to cool down quickly. 

Buttery Honey Beer Bread

I found this on cookiemonstercooking.com a couple years ago, and I have been very impressed by it. The reason I like it so much is that it's a quick-bread (no rising, kneading, proofing, waiting) with the texture of a yeast bread. It's also really forgiving: you don't have to have cake flour (I never have cake flour), and you don't have to use expensive beer. I almost always have the ingredients to make this bread. It takes a few minutes to mix up, and then 50-60 minutes to make, it doesn't have to cool completely before cutting it (though that's certainly easier), and it tastes delicious. This recipe makes 1 loaf, around one pound in weight.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cake flour *
• 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 Tablespoons honey
• 1 bottle (12 oz) of your favorite beer
• 4 Tablespoons butter (the original recipe specifies unsalted, but I generally use all my unsalted butter in scones and shortbread, and I like the salt in this bread) melted and slightly cooled

* As I said, I never have cake flour on hand, so I always use 3 cups of regular flour. I also almost always use self-rising flour, which means I can omit the baking powder and salt. However, if you use all-purpose flour, make sure you put those leavening agents in there.

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray or butter or shortening.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together both kinds of flour, the sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the honey and beer, and mix until just combined. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. (It says batter, but it's more of a stick dough, it's very thick.) Pour the melted butter over the top of the batter. (Occasionally I screw up and melt a whole stick of butter instead of half, but this has only ever made the bread yummier.)
3. Transfer the pan to the oven and place a baking sheet on the lower rack to catch any butter that may drip. (This has never happened to me, maybe because the baking powder native to self-rising flour is less than what is called for here, and if you follow the recipe exactly you may get more rise than I usually do. However, I do not neglect to place that cookie sheet there, just in case.)
4. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until a cake-tester inserted into the middle comes out clean and the top is golden brown.
5. Turn the loaf out onto a wire rack for cooling. This will give it a harder, crunchier crust.  You can serve it warm, but be advised it's more difficult to slice.

Cheddar Cheese Soup Supreme

I found this recipe in the newspaper. For those of you too young to remember those, they were actual paper sheets, printed with the latest news, folded together and wedged into a plastic bag and thrown somewhere near your driveway every morning. This was before news agencies stopped caring about whether something was true or not, versus it being a sensational tidbit that would increase their readership. [Steps down from rant-box.] Ahem. In any case, on Wednesdays they had a food section, and (aside from the comics) it was my favorite part of the paper.

In any case, this soup is a favorite at our house. It underwent a brief period of exile when we were counting calories and not carbs, which will tell you that this is NOT diet food. But it's low-carb (not NO-carb), so we're eating it again.  Once you start the cooking, you generally have to stay with it until it's finished. This is not a simmering soup. But it's worth the commitment.

Ingredients:

• 4 Tablespoons butter (you can use margarine if you want)
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion (generally I just use one small to medium, but you can use frozen chopped onion if you have it, or you can reconstitute dried onions to make 1/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup finely chopped green pepper (I use one whole pepper, unless it's enormous, because what am I going to do with the other half?)
• 5 Tablespoons flour (all purpose or self-rising, it doesn't matter)
• 3 (10.5 oz) cans of condensed chicken broth (except I usually just use 2 cans of regular broth equalling about 30 oz. of liquid, or I make up broth out of bouillon, or I use homemade broth) (you can substitute vegetable broth here if you want to make this vegetarian)
• 3 cups grated sharp cheddar
• 2 cups milk (whole, 2%, 1%, skim, whatever you like, but the richer the milk, the richer the flavor of your finished product)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Dash of pepper
• 1/2 cup croutons (we like the big ones, but whatever you have on hand)
• chopped parsley for garnish

Procedure:

1. Do your chopping first, if you're using fresh vegetables. If you have to make up the broth from bouillon, you should do that before you light the fire, because this soup really isn't something you can walk away from while it cooks. I like to measure stuff out before starting, too, so I have the flour, broth, milk, and cheese all ready to go.
2. Melt the butter in a 3-quart saucepan and cook the onion and green pepper for 6-10 minutes, stirring frequently so they don't scorch. You want then to be pretty soft.
3. Remove from heat and stir in the flour. Mix it well and return it to the heat, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes. It will be pasty. (Don't skip cooking the flour; you can taste it if it's not cooked enough.)
4. Add the broth to the vegetable mixture and bring it to a boil, stirring to thoroughly blend, break up clumps. 
5. Reduce the heat to medium or medium-high. Add the cheese, a handful at a time, stirring each addition to melt it. Keep stirring so it doesn't scorch. Gradually add the milk while stirring. Season with salt and pepper. Bring just up to boiling, but do not boil. The milk might curdle.
6. Serve with croutons and sprinkle with parsley (it can be fresh or dried).

I like this with bread, more than croutons.