Real Home Soup

I post a lot of recipes here and many of them are my own original dishes. Perhaps I have misled you into believing I am careful in the kitchen, a stickler for measuring, and always prepared at mealtimes. That’s not real life in my kitchen. Most nights, I make do with what’s around me because I am too lazy or busy to go shopping. For Tuesday dinner, I made a soup that is the ideal example of how I truly cook.

Real Home Soup
Serves 2-6, probably

Take a two-day old chicken carcass from fridge. Use your fingers to pick off any edible meat bits, cutting them into bite-sized pieces as needed and setting aside in a bowl. Decide not to make stock; toss picked-over carcass in garbage.

Open vegetable crisper bin. Remove contents and array on kitchen counter. Separate into two piles: Safe and Bad. Consider whether the Bad pile has anything salvageable by cutting, washing or peeling. Reconsider the wilting carrot, as it’s only black at the pointy end (the rest would soften in the soup anyway, right?). Rearrange piles accordingly and dump the discards into the garbage. Prepare the Safe vegetables for soup. Use everything, including unlikely candidates such as the heart of lettuce and half a cucumber. Add chopped vegetables to chicken bowl.

Open freezer. Remove plastic container of stock you made last time you roasted a chicken. Regret tossing the carcass - now you won’t have stock in stock. Run container under hot water to thaw the edges, then slide contents into soup pot. Turn stove to high and wait for stock to liquefy, stirring when you feel like it.

While the stock thaws, root around fridge for possible side dishes. Find an unopened package of Havarti cheese. Wander into office and chat Darling Husband to ask him to pick up some bread on the way home. Get distracted checking mail. Take a call from a friend asking if there’s an extra place at the table tonight. Tell him yes, of course, then consider what will extend the soup a little bit.

Return to the kitchen when you hear the stock boiling. Dump in the chicken and vegetables. Add some cold water to bring the soup to a suitable veg-liquid ratio. Stir in a dash or two of salt and MSG, cover the pot and simmer.

About 20 minutes before Darling Husband and the guest arrive, rummage around the pantry for that half package of egg noodles from 6 weeks ago. Perfect soup extender! Crush nests in your fist to make spoon-sized noodle bits. Toss into simmering soup adding a little more water then a little more again just in case the noodles expand more than you remember (They do).

Put on your apron and smile when DH and the guest walk in the door. You’ve just slaved over their dinner, lucky guys.

Posted by kuri at October 19, 2006 08:53 AM