Soup and a PSA

There are a few things I am good at.....
um,
well, I am good at my job. I can put in cute pigtails on a dancing three year old and I make great soup. Seriously, great soup. Good, homemade soup is delicious comfort in a bowl. I love to serve soup in my latte bowls. The bowls are shaped to be cupped in the hand AND to invite drinking the last little bit. During the winter when I seem to eat more meat than I would like, a hearty vegetable based soup never even has me thinking of meat. (I m a rabid reader of Michael Pollan's books. And, though I am no longer a vegetarian, I now only buy meats for my home that are humanely raised with as little of an impact on the environment as possible.)

After raving about my soup I made the other night on Facebook, I promised to post the recipe for my potato-dill soup. Yes, I rave about my own meals on FB. That will follow this brief public service announcement on stock.

Stock? like the stock exchange? well, no. Chicken stock, beef stock, turkey stock, duck stock. You can buy stock. It is not that expensive and has resealable containers now. I always have a few in my pantry. But, really good soup needs really good stock. Yes, I am proposing that you make your own stock. It will be cheaper, will have less sodium (yes, you add salt to your stock but, since you will be freezing, you don't need extra salt to preserve), and it will taste a million times better. I have a secret to my stock. I never fully clean off a whole chicken or turkey. After a meal of roasted chicken, I take that poor, picked over carcass and toss it in a freezer bag (if the skin has bbq sauce or is heavy seasoned, I do pull the rest of the skin off) and throw it in the freezer. Right now in my freezer, I have 3-4 chickens, about 6 turkey drumsticks, and a duck all missing 98% of their meat and just wanting to become stock. If you are so bored you could cry, just skip the next two paragraphs.

To make stock, I pull out my big stock pot (ok, so, it's a lobster pot but, who is keeping track of these things besides Sarah?). About 3 tablespoons of olive oil go in the bottom (or duck fat if I am making duck stock). Next go in celery stalks that have been washed and broken in half. Wash you carrots, cut off the ends and break in a few pieces. Onion can be cut in half - I do remove the skin though I know many cooks who don't bother. Squash a garlic clove (which is one little piece of the head). I use the following guideline since I will have 2-3 chicken in the pot any one time. For each chicken I use 2 celery stalks, 1 large carrot, one medium onion, one-half clove of garlic. On medium heat, give the veggies a stir every 10 minutes of so but, let them sit on the heat for 20 minutes or so. You want to be able to smell the veggies. Oh, when you put them in the pot, give them a generous sprinkling of kosher salt. Now is time for the chicken. Mine go straight from the freezer to the pot. Then I add a couple of bay leaves and some pepper corns (about 4 per chicken). Fill the pot so that everything is covered with cold water. Turn on high until it boils then trun down to med-low for 2-2.5 hours.

Strain, toss the veggies and the chicken bones. I transfer my stock to freezer bags or the big yogurt containers. Then I fill the sink with ice water to cool down the stock so it can go in the frig or freezer. Make sure you date the containers.

Diana's Albany Potato Dill Soup
3 Large Yukon Potatoes, peeled
1 yellow onion
1 large carrot
1 leek (though I frequently omit because I don't have it or am just too lazy to wash out all the sand)
1 garlic clove
2 tbl of fresh or 1 tsp of dried dill
4 oz cream cheese (not non-fat)
32 oz chicken or veggie stock
4 oz shredded cheddar cheese

dice the peeled potatoes, onion, carrots and leeks to uniform size. not too big. put a large saute pan on medium heat. cook the potatoes, onion, carrots and leeks in olive oil (dont forget to add salt) until onions are translucent and carrots get a little caramelized. pour in your stock. let that boil for 20 minutes. in a food processor or blender, blend the potato-stock mixture with the cream cheese and chopped dill. I usually do this in 2 batches. transfer all soup back to the pan. add a bit more salt, a tbl of cracked pepper and the cheddar cheese. let the cheese melt over medium low heat. it you prefer not such a thick soup, thin with more chicken stock or skim milk.
serve with a salad and bread.

Now, I have to go fill my freezer with stock. Enjoy the soup.