CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Posted in Poultry, Soups by sallybr

I use the pressure cooker a lot, pretty much the whole year. I wanted to make chicken soup under pressure (the soup, not the cook), so I started by checking a few cookbooks and websites. I shall name no names, but a very very reputable source gave me a recipe that disappointed on many levels. I used it as a very loose starting point. My version got two thumbs up from me and the man I’ve been happily married with for 21 years, 11 months and 3.5 weeks. Yes, almost anniversary time for us!

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 shallots, halved
6 medium carrots, 3 halved crosswise and 3 peeled and cut into half-moons
4 stalks celery, 2 halved crosswise and 2 cut into half-moons
10 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 large chicken, cut into 8 to 10 pieces, with the skin removed, wings left with skin on
2 quarts water
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 piece ginger (about 1 inch)
2 tablespoons kosher salt
Freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste, optional
Freshly ground black pepper, for serving
noodles of your choice, amount to taste

Heat the oil in your pressure cooker, add the shallots, and the large pieces of carrots and celery, season lightly with salt and pepper. Sautee until fragrant.

Add the chicken pieces, but do not include the breast. Add water, peppercorns, soy sauce and ginger. Make sure the water covers all the pieces of meat. Close the pressure cooker, and cook under pressure for 30 minutes. Release the pressure by running cold water over the lid, or if using the Instant Pot, use the rapid release method.

Strain the liquid passing it through a fine sieve. Discard all solids. You should have at least 8 cups of stock, if you have less, add water to complete the volume. Place the liquid back in the pressure cooker, or use another large stockpot. Add the breasts to the stock, then the pieces of carrots and celery reserved earlier. Simmer very gently until the breast is cooked through – it might take 20 minutes, depending on the size of the breasts.

Cook the noodles al dente and rinse them in cold water. Reserve. You’ll need about 2 cups cooked noodles for the full amount of soup.

When the breast meat is cooked, remove to a plate and shred the meat with a fork. Add it back to the stock, and add the cooked noodles. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, and squirt a little lemon juice right before serving.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I made this soup three times during this winter. First time I was worried that the noodles would get too mushy if left in the broth for a day or two, so I was trying to add them to just the amount of soup we would consume in that meal. But, there’s really no need to do that. It turns out they hold pretty well in the fridge. I just try to cook them JUST to the al dente stage.

The pressure cooker does a beautiful job intensifying flavors, so the soup is very satisfying and has a bright flavor due to the ginger and lemon. I hope you give it a try, either with a pressure cooker or the Instant Pot.

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16Feb2022

CHICKEN POBLANO TORTILLA SOUP

Posted in Soups by sallybr

I don’t know why it took me so long to make this soup, as it is so popular. Every year I see countless examples in magazines, cookbooks, websites, and food blogs. And what makes it really painful is that we both loved it. Almost 13 years blogging. A chicken-tortilla-soup-virgin. No more.

CHICKEN POBLANO TORTILLA SOUP
(slightly adapted from Averie Cooks)

6 whole tomatillos, husks removed
3 whole poblano peppers
olive oil spray and a little salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium shallot, diced small
6 cups low or no-salt added chicken broth
1 can (14.5-ounce) fire-roasted diced tomatoes, not drained
2 cups cooked shredded chicken
1 + 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Tortilla chips or strips, for garnishing

Roast the veggies: line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, spray the tomatillos and poblanos with some olive oil and season lightly with salt. Place in a 450F oven and roast until lightly charred. The tomatillos need less time in the oven, remove them when ready, allow the poblanos to roast further. Transfer the tomatillos into a blender, and process until still a bit chunky.

When the poblanos are well charred, transfer them to a plastic bag and seal. That will steam them making it easier to remove the skin. Remove the skin and seeds, cut the poblanos into slivers. Reserve. Add a very small amount of oil (2 tsp or so) into a small non-stick skillet, when very hot add the frozen kernels of corn, saute seasoning with a little salt until golden. Reserve.

Heat the remaining oil in a large stock pot, sauce the shallots for 5 minutes, add the broth, tomatoes, chicken, chili, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Simmer for a couple of minutes, add the reserved poblanos and corn. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes in very gentle heat.

Taste, adjust seasoning, and serve with tortilla chips or strips.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: This was so delicious, I am kicking myself for never trying this soup until now. The chicken was leftover from a clay pot roasted chicken, which I made after brining it overnight in buttermilk. It was one of the best clay pot concoctions of the recent past, and I shall share with you in the near future. But any roast chicken will do, so grab one in the grocery store if you want to make it really easy on you.

This soup is a meal in itself. Nothing else needed. Satisfying, complex, the tortillas and the corn offer that small amount of carbs that will keep you happy but not feeling heavy and lethargic. We absolutely loved it, and I hope you’ll give it a try…

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31Aug2017

BRUTTI MA BUONI LOW-CARB SOUP

Posted in Soups by sallybr

I adore the Italian language, so musical and beautiful. Would love to learn to speak Italian, it might very well be a project for after retirement. Brutti ma buoni translates as ugly but good, and of course quite a few recipes match this description. I’ve got one for you today. Cabbage, riced cauliflower, and ground chicken swimming in broth definitely won’t fall into the category of George Clooney as far as looks and charm, but it is mighty good. Actually, I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did. This is a reasonably filling soup, but quite low in those carbs that in some phases of life are best consumed in moderation. I used a crock pot, don’t worry if you don’t have one. It works well on the stove top. And, if you’d like to make it vegetarian, I bet farro would be amazing in place of the meat. One cup of farro would add about 130 g of carbs to the whole soup, stripping it of its low-carb label. Not that there’s anything wrong with it…

CROCK POT LOW-CARB CHICKEN & CABBAGE SOUP
(adapted from Sugar Free Mom)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
1 pound ground chicken
1 tsp Herbes de Provence
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 cup canned stewed tomatoes, with their juice
1/2 cup riced cauliflower
3 cups cabbage slaw (I used store-bought)
3 cups beef broth or water
additional salt and pepper to taste

toppings of your choice, a little lemon juice, Sriracha (all optional)

Heat olive oil and saute shallots on medium high heat. Add ground chicken and cook until lightly browned, seasoning with one teaspoon salt and pepper. Add tomatoes, cauliflower, stir well to remove any browned bits from the pan. Transfer to crock pot. Add beef broth, cabbage slaw and cook on high for 3 hours or low for 6 hours. If no crock pot is available, just simmer gently on the stove top for an hour or so until the cabbage is fully tender.

Adjust seasoning and serve with a dollop of yogurt, shredded cheese, or diced avocados. A little bit of Sriracha added to your bowl hurts absolutely nothing. And a squirt of lemon juice.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: This soup was my lunch three days in a row. As you might have noticed, I don’t have a problem repeating the same lunch over and over, in fact I find it quite nice to cook a large batch of something in the weekend, and have it ready and waiting. Not wasting time and energy figuring out what to eat at lunch allows me to be more efficient. For instance, I might be able to sneak a few exercises before lunch (got 12 minutes to spare?), or if the schedule is too busy, keep lunch break to a minimum and get back to work right away. At the risk of making some of my friends living in huge cities very jealous, I divulge that it only takes us 8 minutes to go from lab to home. I know… we are spoiled!

Anyway, for this sequential lunches, I varied the toppings. On the first day I added shredded Gruyère, second time around a dollop of yogurt and Za’tar (never get tired of this spice mix). Finally, on the third day I crowned it with diced avocado, a heavy squirt of lemon juice and a touch of Tajin (another spice mix I am quite fond of). The soup got a bit thicker on the third day, but I did not add any water or beef broth to it, just enjoyed it the way it was. If you visit Sugar Free Mom’s site, you’ll noticed she used ground beef, so keep that in mind as an option too. I know this will become part of my regular menu, and not just when I feel the need to go low on carbs. It is delicious!

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13Jan2011

A SOUP FOR WHAT AILS YOU

Posted in Soups by sallybr

A Brazilian take on a Portuguese classic, “canja de galinha” may be translated as chicken soup, but not just any chicken soup. Canja is always made with rice, no noodles allowed in it. It is a soothing soup that warms body and soul – the gastronomic counterpart of your Mom’s embrace when you have a sore throat, or a tummy ache. However, even when you are perfectly fine, it’s hard to beat a bowl of canja on a chilly evening with a slice of crusty bread next to it. End the night by cuddling with your loved one on the sofa watching a movie, preferably one that won’t be compromised by a few snoozing time-outs… 😉

CANJA DE GALINHA
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 slices of ginger (1/4 inch thick), slightly crushed
1 Tbs canola or corn oil

1 shallot, mined
3 medium carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
salt and pepper
6 cups chicken stock (or water)
8 new waxy potatoes (red or yellow), quartered
10 oz cooked white rice
squirt of lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Poach the chicken breasts: in a sauce pan, bring to a gentle boil the soy sauce, ginger pieces, and enough water to just cover the meat. Once the water starts to boil, immediately turn off the heat, cover the pan, and let it sit for 20 minutes. Lift the chicken breasts from the liquid, and once they are cool enough to handle, shred the meat using two forks or your fingers. Reserve.

Heat the oil in a heavy pan, saute the shallots until barely soft, don’t let them get golden. Add the carrots and celery, season with salt and pepper, cook for about 5 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring every now and then. Add the chicken stock (or water), the potatoes, cover the pan and simmer until the potatoes are beginning to get tender. Add the cooked rice and the chicken, cover the pan again and simmer everything together for 10 minutes over medium-low heat. Squirt a little lemon juice, adjust seasoning, and serve.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: If you search for “canja” recipes in the net, many will instruct you to cook the chicken and the rice in the soup instead of separately. I strongly oppose either of these shortcuts, because they will make your soup cloudy, with a slightly heavier mouth feel. Cooking the waxy, new potatoes in the soup doesn’t pose a problem. For a lighter version – my Mom’s favorite – you can omit the potatoes, but I like the extra substance they provide. Sometimes I add fresh parsley or fresh mint in the final minutes of cooking, both very common additions in traditional “canja.”

Poaching the chicken very gently in the mixture of soy and ginger makes the meat tender, juicy, with just a hint of ginger flavor. If you like a more assertive ginger taste, grate some and add to the carrots/celery mix. And, speaking of carrots and celery, they will be very evident in the soup, so take the time to beautifully dice them. It is a simple soup, but small details make it special. I like to add freshly ground black pepper and a little more lemon juice in my own bowl right before indulging in it.

Leftovers are delicious for a few days, in fact I always make a large batch because after the first meal, I find myself craving for more on the following days. One may think that the rice would absorb too much liquid sitting in the fridge, but it’s never been a problem for us. I use jasmine rice, perhaps other types behave differently. January is a month that screams for soup, and I’m more than happy to oblige… 😉

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7Feb2010

CHICKEN SOUP on a CHILLY EVENING

Posted in Soups by sallybr

While rummaging through the 2,675 loose recipes around my house, I found one from 2006 that was whispering my name: a simple soup from the Mean Chef collection, which was perfect for one of last week’s chilly evenings.

YUCATAN-STYLE CHICKEN SOUP WITH ORZO AND LIME
(adapted from Mean Chef’s recipe)

3/4 cup orzo pasta
1 T olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 serrano pepper, finely minced
2 chicken skinless chicken breasts, sliced into matchstick pieces
5 cups chicken broth (preferably home-made)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
3/4 cup of diced tomatoes (I used organic, fire-roasted Muir)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the orzo until al dente (do not overcook). Drain well and reserve.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and saute the onion and serrano pepper for a few minutes, until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and chicken pieces, and saute for a couple of minutes longer.

Add the chicken broth, lime juice, and tomato. Bring to a boil and simmer gently until the chicken is cooked through. Mix in the cooked orzo, season with salt and pepper, then add cilantro just before serving.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: I’d love to say that I always use homemade chicken stock, but it’s not true. In a pinch I may use packaged stock, because it makes life easier. But, in two instances I stay with my precious homemade version: when making soups or risotto. The flavor of the broth is powerful in these dishes, and your taste buds will appreciate the high road, as illustrated by this soup.

Orzo is my favorite pasta shape, but the same soup also shines with cooked rice. In Brazil we call that version “canja.” It’s a soup with firm roots in Portugal, and my mom’s basic strategy to fight almost any kind of illness. I guess some things are the same all over the world… 😉

Please don’t skip the lime or the pepper, because without them this simple soup will be bland. We like the flavor of cilantro, but members of the Cilantro Haters Association may skip it. I never understood the advice to substitute parsley for cilantro, because apart from color, they have little in common. But, I suppose a little parsley won’t hurt anything in this soup.

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