What Do I Do With The Leftovers?

So the last two posts have been about liquids (chicken stock, and potato soup), so this one is going to be about what you do with the leftovers (if there are any).

The answer (according to me) has to do with your intentions down the road. If you think you are going to eat it within a few days then just throw it in the fridge. I recommend storing it in glass but use what you can.

If it is going to be a while before you are going to use it then it is off to the freezer.

Next question is how you will use it when you need it. The two options here are in bulk (a pot full) or individual servings, for portions, lunches etc.

For the bulk packaging, I put 4 cups at a time into double bagged freezer bags. This gives me frozen portions exactly equal to the boxes of chicken stock you find at the store. (You can find the quart boxes for $3/box, my bags are closer to .75/bag...)

For portions, I use a Demarle Muffin Pan. These make 1/2 cup (4oz) soup pucks. These are very useful for lunch portions for soup, or sick portions for the chicken stock. Fill the cups with liquid (soup or stock) and transfer to the freezer. Two of these portions equal the 1cup portions mini boxes you find at the store. These are about $4 for a four pack or $1 per cup. My stock is less than .20 per cup.

When the "pucks" are frozen solid, then I transfer 4 at a time into a quart size freezer bag and store them for later.

I put soup "pucks" in a bowl and reheat, or the stock "pucks" in a cup and give them to whoever is sick :)

It is soooooo nice to have a freezer full of food ready to go at anytime.

If you have any questions about anything you see here let me know...

If you have not seen Demarle products before or are looking for something specific (like the Muffin Pans shown above), follow this link.

If you want more great Gluten/Dairy/Soy free recipes, then stay tuned :)

In the spirit of full disclosure, I am eating the bowl of soup shown above as I type, so if I seem distracted it is because it tastes even better than it looks :)

Stay Hungry!

Gluten/Soy/Dairy Free Baked Potato Soup or Clam Chowder

Potatoes are a staple in our house. We like them baked, mashed, shredded, grilled and fried. One of our favorite ways to serve them though, is in thick and creamy potato soup. This recipe will let you make a number of different soup but we will start with the basics...

Creamy Baked Potato Soup. (this makes 10qts, so scale accordingly)

4T oil (safflower/olive/etc)

1/2 med onion diced

4 ribs celery diced

2 large carrots diced

2 cups of cooked Ham diced

6 large potatoes diced

8 cups chicken stock (see my earlier post)

4T non dairy butter

4T flour alternative (I use brown rice, but any should work)

8 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk

lots of salt and pepper

I start almost every soup the same way... onions, celery and carrots in a little oil at the bottom of a stock pot... such an amazing smell! So that is where this starts also...

Use enough oil to cover the bottom of the pot and add the onions, give it a second and add the carrots, then the celery. Stir to keep it from browning, add a few good pinches of salt. Add the ham and let that work together for a few minutes. I do this until the veggies start to soften a little.

The broth and most of the potatoes go in next (I hold out a few cups of potatoes to add later). Add a bunch of salt to this, you have to work pretty hard to over salt potatoes, and plenty of fresh ground black pepper. Bring this to a boil and let it go for 10-15 minutes, or until a potato will smash easily against the wall of the pot.

When the potatoes are done, take a potato masher to the pot and mash them in the pot. You could also use an immersion blender, but I prefer having chunks in the soup. 

let this sit for a moment and grab a small stock pot. Put the 4T of fake butter (I use earth balance soy free plus a splash of Wildtree butter flavored oil) in the sauce pan and let it melt. Whisk in the 4T GF flour until you have a thick paste. Next step is to add this to the soup, a little at a time, whisking all the time. Bring this back to a boil to thicken.

This is where I add in the potatoes I held back earlier. This adds a great texture to the soup. Now stir in the almond milk and bring it back temp. 

Take a quick taste and add more salt and maybe some more pepper. Remember you will have to work to over season this.

You can leave things just like this, or you can open a few cans of minced clams and add them to make a chowder. 

Enjoy, and freeze any leftovers in freezer bags for quick access later.

Many folks have told me that this is as good a "cream" soup as any they have every had... You don't always get to hear that about allergy free food so it is a real treat to serve this to a house full of friends. 

Be creative with this and let me know what variations you come up with. 

I have a request for tortilla soup, so that will likely be the next post here. If you have something you would like to see or need a allergy free option for a favorite food let me know. 

Thanks for reading, and Stay Hungry!

It All Starts With A Bird

Buy Chicken Stock From The Store???? Pfft!

I make a lot of soup. We decided last year to open our home to friends on Sundays after Church. We found that it was indescribably cheaper to make soup for thirty people then it is for four people to eat out. Not to mention that with varying, ridiculous allergies in our family, trying to find a restaurant that we can all eat at is close to impossible. So every fall, our house is full of friends, kids of friends and the smell of fresh, homemade soup. 

Not sure exactly how much soup has been made or consumed in this house over the last 12 months but it has been quite a bit, and with the exception of one friend who does not care for cilantro (name rhymes with Layson Morgday) I have never had any complaints.

So before I share recipes and step by steps on how I make my soup, I figured we should start with the bird. Yes I said the bird. Although chicken stock in varying varieties and sodium levels is available at your local grocer, none can replace home-made. Making your own stock allows you to control what goes in it as well as save incredible amounts of money.

There are many different ways to get to the end result, but my favorite is roasting the chicken. Since this is my blog, that is what we are going to talk about. 

So the first part of this is "how to roast a chicken"

Ingredients:

1 whole fresh or previously frozen chicken

half of a medium onion, sliced

3 ribs of celery, sliced

2 carrots, peeled and sliced (or a few handfuls of baby carrots)

2 cloves of garlic peeled

dash of marjoram, thyme, rosemary

salt/pepper and paprika to taste 

3 bay leaves

You could certainly do this in a roasting pan, but I am a HUGE fan of the crock-pot, so that is what I will share. This couldn't get much easier or tastier or cheaper... So here we go.

Step 1 - Put all that stuff in the crock pot

Step 2 - Wait 4 hours and eat

Seriously.... I'll give you a little more detail but that is about it. 

Unwrap the chicken and remove whatever goodies they added to the cavity (yes, you have to stick your hand in the bird and pull out the parts). Depending on the brand you may find sachet of parts or just an extra neck or two... Whatever it is place it in the crock-pot. I prefer to cook mine breast side down to keep it moist.

Season the bird with the salt and pepper, add the herbs on top and surround with the veggies. When it is  ready it should look something like this...

Turn it on, sit back and enjoy the aroma...

About 4 hours (Internal temp of 165 by the book). The longer you cook the more "fall off the bone" you will experience.

End of the run should look like this (or something similar)

Now again we come to preferences. You could stop right here, serve it with potatoes or rice and call it a night. I prefer to separate the bird from the rest and put them in the fridge over night. Makes it so much easier to de-bone, but it is not an option if you are hungry. No way to describe how good this smells! Either way you are going to remove the meat from the bird. You can do this dainty like with a fork and knife but I prefer to get in and get after it with my hands. Take all the meat that you want, but don't be afraid to leave a little on the bone as this will just add to the flavor of the broth. Place the carcass aside (the bones and skin and such) and any meat that you don't like. I won't judge... I am a very picky chicken eater so my broth is very meaty :)

So now onto the broth. Take the bowl of not chicken (chicken juice, veggies etc) and put it into the biggest stock pot you have. I use a 12 quart stock pot for this, but you can use whatever you have. Then put the carcass of the chicken into the pot. Add water to the top of your pot, add a few liberal shakes of salt and pepper and simmer for as long as you can stand. Keep track of the simmer part, if you bring it to a full boil you will make the broth murky, letting it simmer keeps it very clear. This is just a look thing, but I think it is important

After a few hours, or as long as you can stand then take a sieve (fine mesh strainer), cheese cloth (a fabric mesh used or making cheese) or if neither are available you can use a coffee filter (last resort). To keep the broth clear, scoop it out with a ladle or a large measuring cup and pour it slowly through the sieve into a bowl, and empty the sieve as often as necessary into a separate bowl. 

Keep this up until you have it all strained and collected. Tonight I used my 12 qt stock pot to simmer the stock. When it was all said and done I ended up with 9 qts of beautiful broth. Considering a 1qt container of quality stock is around 2.99, then this is 27.00 worth of stock. Shopping for sales (i.e. .88/lb for chicken) can land you savings north of 20.00 per batch. Not to mention the fact that you saw everything that went in there.

Let the stock cool overnight in the fridge, and remove or skim the fat layer off if you wish. Then prepare for storage. We pour 4 cup portions into gallon size freezer bags for use later.

So that's it. Homemade, Gluten, Dairy, and Soy free chicken stock with no added anything. You can do this too. 

Next will be Dairy free Creamy Baked Potato Soup and or Clam Chowder. 

Hit me with any questions and let me know how your chicken stock turned out. Would love to hear what you tried or changed.

Stay Hungry