Skip to main content

Inaugural Chicken Apple Soup


Inaugural Chicken Apple Soup

There comes a time when your trusted appliances begin to fade, slipping in consistency and reliability – not even coming on at all when you’ve trusted them to do their job. That’s right. The crock pot let me down. Granted, it’s apparently not quite “mostly dead,” but has enough of a short sporadically to go on strike. So, I struck back. Yep. Bought a new one. Cuter. Smaller. And, thus far, it works reliably.

So what to make for the inaugural pot?

Chicken Apple Soup. Here’s the basic plan: Take ½ a cooked chicken, remove bone and skin, throw it in the pot with 4 cups of chicken broth and 4 cups of water. Finely chop 3 ribs of celery. Peel, core, and slice 3 apples. Slice 2 medium pieces of candied ginger. Add these and ½ teaspoon of salt (I used the pink), 2 teaspoons of fresh parsley and 2 of fresh cilantro. Add a few drops of lemon oil. Stir. Walk away. Check every now and then. Eat eventually.

Why? This recipe reminds me of my grandmother’s favorite chicken salad with celery and apples. Why else? When I cook, I look through the refrigerator, cabinets, countertop bowls, and drawers to see what I‘ve accumulated, and I combine ingredients from there.  
The results? Usually, my concoctions work. Last week, I went a bit overboard and had to deliver a few pints of spicy chicken soup to my friend's husband. She kept calling and asking for more. We weren't so keen on it, so I shared generously. Sometimes, we're not so sure.  Those weeks, the dogs get extra portions of soup. It’s a win- win for all involved.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Freedom Bean Salad for 25 July 3, 2010 When it comes to preparing food for holidays and family gatherings, I find myself teetering between tradition and exploration. Part of me rejoices in a Thanksgiving sideboard groaning with turkey, stuffing, cranberries, green beans, and sweet potato soufflé, yet another side sighs with boredom. When tradition becomes too routine, too predictable, too staid, then I feel we’re simply living our lives on repeat. On the other hand, I eagerly anticipate creating favorite dishes year to year. Where do we find the balance between respecting the familiar and introducing the new? A few years ago, Aunt Judy decided she’d had it with routine and started planning new holiday menus, assigning each family a contribution. I recall processing with horror my 4th of July, 2006 assignment: coleslaw. Coleslaw? Really, there had to be a mistake. I’d been bringing pasta salad for years. Pasta salad with Greek dressing, olives, tomatoes, summer squash, zuc...
1 comment
Read more

It's my plate. Why are you ticked off?

You can almost hear the eye-rolling when another diner surveys the content of my plate. "Paleo?" he asks.  "No," I respond. I might as well follow through.  "Gluten-free." The diner now surveys me to see if he can discern what's wrong with me. Perhaps this will lead to a rather personal Q and A, through which this individual will deem that I, indeed, may continue to eat as I wish.  Perhaps this will lead to a dismissal of gluten-free as a fad.  Perhaps I'll be treated to an anecdote of another experimental person on the gluten-free path. It's tempting just to say I'm allergic to wheat as determined by an elaborate skin-prick test by a leading allergist. It's mostly true. But I don't go there. I'm one of those annoying folks who have some actual food allergies and other food sensitivities. I've found that it's best just to eat what I know is safe for me and to avoid what isn't.  It's that simple. ...
Post a Comment
Read more