Let's try this again.
Sunday, January 9, 2011 at 4:58PM At least, try to get it started. Harry has been snoozing for a couple of hours and may be awake soon to eat, so we'll see how far I get.
The post I lost yesterday was about one of my rare forays into home made soup. I tried a new recipe, Chicken Cheddar Chowder. I don't remember where I found it exactly, and a quick google search shows many such recipes exist, so this is only one of dozens of versions.
Now let me tell you, I have not done a lot of new-recipe-cooking lately, and I quickly remembered I forgot to do a few basic things. I forgot to to check how many servings this recipe was supposed to make (7 - what an odd number of servings, no pun intended...especially with soup!), which I realized as the volume of liquid in the pot steadily increased and I worried what we'd do with it all if we didn't like it! I also forgot to read ahead and see what prep work needed to be done. This I discovered after I threw the chicken in the pot, and led to vegetable peeling and chopping frenzy. Notes to self have been made and will hopefully be remembered the next time a new recipe beckons. You'd think I was new to this cooking thing. Sheesh.
Anyway.
I made a few changes to the recipe. I'm not a big onion fan, so rather than an entire cup of chopped onion (gag), I just poured some dried onion into my palm until I felt it might add a little tiny bit of onion flavor. About 1/4 cup or so. I do, however, have no aversion to garlic, being the good Ukrainian girl I am, and did use the required 2 cloves...even though one of those cloves would have provided enough I'm sure. This lovely piece of garlic was worthy of a photo, for 2 reasons. 1 - it was large. 2 - it reminded me of my friend Cathy, not because she is a good Ukrainian girl (true) or because she smells of garlic (no comment), but because she enjoys the ginormous garlic she buys at the farmers' market. I'm sure this garlic doesn't compare, given it just came from the grocery store around the corner, but that was enough for me to take a picture. And to make the picture all dark and dramatic...well truthfully, the dark drama is only to try and hide the numberous water spots left on the fork I used for a size comparison by the dishwasher. Yes, I could have grabbed a different fork, but remember, I was in the midst of my veggie frenzy and there was no time.
Anyway.
The only other change was to use turkey bacon rather than pork. If you wanted to be picky then yes I did use skim milk instead of 2% and only 4 cups of chicken broth rather than 4 1/2 cups...simply because it came in a 1L carton and I wasn't going to open 2 just for the extra 1/2 cup! Gadzooks.
In the end, said soup was quite delicious, and I needn't have worried about having a large potful, because we both had 2 helpings before the leftovers went into the fridge.
The next time I make it I might make a few other changes, like adding carrots and/or celery, more corn, maybe leave the skin on the potatoes for some extra color...I suppose the possibilities are endless, really! Here is the recipe I used...again, can't remember where I found it, so I am unable to give credit where credit is due! I will be so bold as to say it serves 8!
Chicken Cheddar Chowder
2 slices bacon
1 lb chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup red bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 3/4 cup red potatoes, peeled and diced
2 1/4 cups frozen whole kernel corn
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 cups milk
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Cook bacon in large pot over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon, crumble and set aside. Add chicken, onion, bell pepper and garlic to drippings in pot; saute 5 minutes. Add broth and potato, bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes or until potato is tender; add corn. Place flour in a bowl; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Add to soup; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to medium heat and simmer 15 minutes or until thick, stirring frequently. Stir in cheddar cheese, salt and pepper. Top with crumbled bacon.
PS. I made it to the point of adding the soup picture before Harry woke up, and I just finished the post now at approx 6:41pm. Pretty good if you ask me!
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