She did nothing fancy that I knew of, except for the pinch of saffron near the end, a nod to the cooking education she received.   Shortly after being married, my grandfather returned to Spain with his bride.  It was there that she learned to cook.  She learned to cook specifically to please my grandfather, so it was the food he was accustomed she learned.   Over the years, some of the food from her heritage crept back in, such as stuffed cabbage, and her yearly perogie festival, which was more like a holiday than a  food item.   But the daily cooking and the holiday cooking was usually Spanish food for my grandfather.

Despite my mother’s penchant for making everything from scratch, I only ever remember chicken soup out of a can at home.   I don’t fault her for this, it was just plain old survival at that point.  Raising four children, canned soup was the best instant food of her time.   But it was that canned soup, that really brought me to indifference about soup in general. 

 This past week, with a sinus infection and something resembling the flu, I was laid up most of the week.  And, as I have been over the past few years, craving chicken soup.    I sent T to the market with a list, and kept it really simple. 

 A Note on Analysis Paralysis – I don’t usually use a single recipe for something that I make.  I like to scatter a wide net, searching from my own library and online for different variations.  If you search for chicken soup, stock, or broth, you will find many many possible ways to make it, and everyone is right.  And everyone is usually very opionated as to why you never cut up the chicken before you put it in the pot, or why you never let it actually boil, but simmer at a near boil for X number of hours.   Let it all go.  Certainly, look at what is out there and take what you need, but eventually, just make it, assess it and make mental notes and move on.  It is just chicken soup.

Basic Chicken Soup

The stock

The method I chose for making the soup, was to make a basic stock first.  Once the stock was done, I took half of that and froze it, the rest I used for the soup, putting it back onto the stove, reducing it a little bit, adding in whatever vegetable I wanted into the soup. 

• Rinse chicken.  Put it into a pot.  I added a couple of carrots, pieces of celery and a large onion quartered.  I also added a couple of cloves of garlic, cut in half and several pepper corns.  I didn’t peel the onion, garlic or carrots, they were used here to flavor the broth.  (There is a lot of opinions about when to add aromatics to the stock, Ina Garten, who I just happened to watch a week ago make stock, puts them in at the beginning.)
•  Simmer on the stove until it tastes and looks right (color)  and the chicken is cooked through.  This took me about 4 hours or so.  You have to skim the foam off of the top periodically.  I also reserved the salt, prefer to salt the stock once I use it. 
• Strain the stock, chill if you are not going to use it right away.  Also, once cool, you can remove a lot of the accumulated fat from the top.

For the Soup.

•  Simmer the strained stock.  Add whatever vegetables you want in youe soup.  I like it very simple with carrots and some onion.  I sautéed the carrots and onions first, before adding them to the stock to finish cooking.   This is when I would start to salt the stock, and taste and adjust as I finished the soup.  
• Every recipe I looked at, cooked the starch separate from the stock.  This is something I am going to research more, but it is also the route I chose.  I chose some egg noodles, I cooked them to just before al dente, drained them and added them to the stock to finish cooking. 
• Add some of the cooked chicken and a pinch of saffron. 

 Voila.

 Verdict – It rocked.  I ate it not only for dinner, but lunch and a breakfast.  It really rocked.  And the stock alone tasted great, and I have 3 2cup portions tucked away in the freezer for future stock needs.   T loved it as well, and I think this is going to become a staple in our house.  Maybe one day my grandchildren will talk about my chicken soup.

Hopefully I will get back to posting soon.    

This weekend we went away for a friend’s wedding.  At the cocktail hour, I was seduced by a new passed hors d’oeuvres. It was the mini Rueben. A miniature one bite sandwich of toasted rye bread, with briny corned beef, the sweet russian dressing, the tangy sauerkraut, and the cheese to smooth is all out. Yet, all of that packed into one bite. It was perfect.  It is this wonderfully combination of one bite flavor that makes me want to confess.

I tell people it is bacon wrapped scallops that are my favorite, and I do like them, but they are my hors d’oeuvres beard, just so I don’t have to admit that my favorite hors d’oeuvre is the same it has been since I was 6.  I can do without all of the stuffed mushrooms, most of the bruschetta. Occasional sate is okay, as is the little mini lamb chop, yet most are lacking in flavor, and with no flavor, it is just a meat popsicle, which is kind of gross.  I would like to tell you that I prefer all sorts of seafood, and fancy cheese, and fruit and all of that hors d’oeuvres which are all fine, but really, it is the simple familiar flavors that get me. Which leads me to admitting that my favorite of all passed hors d’oeuvres is the humble and ubiquitous pigs in a blanket.

And as T and I drove home, we discussed which appetizers would be passed for our wedding reception. Although I have been putting pigs in a blanket on the list the entire time I have been telling him it is for my neices and nephews.  But now, I am finally able to admit, that it is for I that I want pigs in a blanket passed at our wedding.  I am not sure if they can do the miniature reuben’s for our cocktail hour, but the rehearsal dinner is a different story.

       This salad was an inevitable collision of random events.   Somehow, I got inspired to make my own ricotta cheese, realizing how easy it was.   And, the first organic tomatoes appeared at the Friday Farmers Market.   That afternoon, I bought the tomatoes, and that night, I made the ricotta.
     On Saturday, I pondered what to do with the ricotta as a bowl, of cherry tomatoes were staring me in the face. The rest just fell into place.

     When I was a kid, there was always a tomato discussion throughout the summer.   Besides getting home grown ones from family and neighbors, which were most prized, there was also the discussion of which farm stand had the best ones. I didn’t particularly like any tomato as a kid, and I certainly didn’t want some gnarly and mottled misshapen thing grown in my aunt’s back yard.   The only acceptable tomatoes, not that I would eat them mind you, where perfectly and evenly red unblemished abominations, that I would now consider flavorless.
    I now know better, and long for the home grown variety or at least from a farm stand, and look forward to next week when my next door neighbors will be on vacation, leaving their lovely tomato plants unchaperoned.

     Making your own ricotta might seem like a reach, but it is a rather simple procedure.   I was inspired by a post at 101 Cookbooks.    It is well worth it making your own ricotta, the flavor difference is enormous, however in a pinch, buying it will be just fine as well. 

     And if you haven’t checked out 101 Cookbooks, definitely do.  Spend some time with the archives, there are a lot of great recipes in there.  

 The Salad of Summer 2008

Ingredients

• Cherry Tomatoes
• Salt
• Pepper
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Fresh Ricotta
• Fresh Herbs
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil

For side salad

 I used about 4-5 cherry tomatoes person.  Make this salad when you are ready to serve.

1. Quarter the tomatoes, place in the bowls or plates you are going to serve in
2. Spinkle tomatoes with a little sea salt
3. Drizzle a little bit of balsamic vinegar over the tomatoes
4. Place the ricotta on top of tomatoes, a couple of tablespoon of ricotta per serving
5. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil.
6. Season with salt and fresh cracked pepper.  
7. Sprinkle fresh herbs on top.