Chicken and Corn Chowder

I bet a lot of you are craving a hearty chowder about now. Did you happen to freeze any corn this summer? Well, then you're in luck. I hope you enjoy this.

Ingredients: (Poached chicken and chicken broth)

• 1 large (5-6 pounds) chicken
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 carrot,chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns, fresh ground or crushed
• 1Tbl. sea salt

Directions:

1. Combine the chicken, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, thyme, pepper and salt in a large pot.
2. Add water to cover, at least 3 quarts.
3. Bring the water to a simmer.
4. Skim, add more water if necessary to keep the chicken covered, and continue to gently simmer until the chicken is fully cooked (the juices from the thigh will run clear), about 40 minutes.
5. Drain the chicken reserving the broth.
6. Allow the chicken to cool then remove the meat from the bones. Discard the bones and refrigerate the meat until ready to make the chowder.
7. Measure out 1 1/2 quarts of the broth and reserve for the chowder.
8. Freeze or refrigerate any remaining broth until needed for another purpose.

The chowder

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound thick bacon, diced
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 5 stalks celery, diced
• 2 medium Spanish onions, diced
• 4 medium red potatoes, diced
• 3 cups fresh, or frozen corn, removed from the cob
• 1 to 2 teaspoons fresh, or dry, thyme leaves
• 1 dried cayenne pepper
• Chicken, chopped to 1/2 " pieces
• 1&1/2 qt. chicken broth
  
• 3 cups heavy cream
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Heat the bacon and olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
2. Cook until the bacon fat is rendered and the meat firming but not yet crisp, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the celery and onions.
4. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables begin to soften, about 6 minutes.
5. Add the potatoes, and thyme. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are fully soft, about 8 additional minutes.
6. Add the chicken broth to the pot and bring the broth to a simmer over medium-high heat.
7. Turn down the heat and simmer, low, until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
8. Add the cream, corn, and reserved chicken.
9. Return the chowder to a simmer, then immediately reduce to lowest possible heat.
10. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
11. Ladle into warm bowls and serve.

Several garnishes are appropriate:

• Strips of roasted red pepper
• Chopped, fresh parsley
• Crumbled bacon
• Minced, fresh dill
• Green onion (green part only), sliced very thin on diagonal

Yield:
16 servings

Navy Bean Soup

As many are sitting around their wood stoves right now, I hope they are allowing it to do double duty. Along with your tea water, it's a great slow-cooker with the addition of a trivet, or using a cast iron dutch oven with legs. This is just one, of many, variations of navy bean soup. Use your own favorite. I like to make a large batch, and freeze leftovers for another day.

Ingredients

1. 1 & 1/2 pounds dried navy beans (about 3 cups)
2. 3 quarts water
3. 1+ cup chopped onion
4. 2 garlic cloves, chopped
5. 2 smoked ham hocks (about 1 lb.)
6. 1 tsp. dried thyme
7. 1 dried cayenne pepper
   
8. 1 large bay leaf
9. 2 large diced carrots
10. Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste
    

Directions

• Carefully pick through and wash beans then place in a container. Cover with water to 2 inches above beans and let stand 8 hours. Drain beans.
• 
  
• Combine the beans, 3 qts. water, and next 6 ingredients (water through bay leaf) in thick walled pot (ideally, porcelain coated, cast iron dutch oven), and place on wood stove. (If the pot/dutch oven doesn't have legs, place on trivet.
• Stir occasionally (especially until you are familiar with cooking on your wood stove), add more water as needed.
  
• After 3-4 hours, stir in the carrot and pepper. Cook about another 1&1/2-2 hours, until the beans are completely tender.
  
• Remove bay leaves, and discard. Remove the ham hocks, and shred meat, discarding fat and gristle. Return the meat to pan.
• Stir, taste, and adjust seasonings.
• Serve
  

Serving options

Serve with fresh chopped onions and/or fresh corn bread.

Yield

12-16 servings

Chicken Vegetable Soup

I'm sure I'm not the only one craving a hearty chicken vegetable soup right now. Watching the snow fall outside my window makes it even more appealing. This recipe is [almost] the one my mother shared with us.

Ingredients

1. 1 (3-4 pound) whole chicken
2. 6 med.-large carrots, cut in 1" pieces
   
3. 6 stalks celery,cut into 1" pieces
   
4. 2 medium onions, chopped into 1/4-1/2" pieces
   
5. 1 gal. cold, filtered water
6. 1 dried cayenne pepper
7. 1 med. - large clove garlic, crushed
   
8. 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped fine
9. 1/4 lb. fresh spinach, shredded (sliced into 1/4" slices)*
   
10. sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions

• Put the chicken, with the cayenne, garlic, half the carrots, 1/2 the celery and 1/2 the onion, in a large soup pot and cover with cold water.
  
• Bring to a boil, then immediately reduce to a low simmer, uncovered, until the chicken meat begins to fall off of the bone (skim off foam every so often).
• Take everything out of the pot. Strain the broth. Season the broth with salt, and pepper to taste.
• Bone the chicken and chop into bite size pieces.
  
• Return the chicken meat, with all the carrots, celery, and onion to the pot, stir together, and simmer an additional 15 minutes ('til the newly added vegetables are al dente).
• Add parsley and stir through.
  
• Place about 2 Tbl. of shredded spinach in the bottom of soup bowl, and ladle 1 steaming serving of soup over it.

Yield

About 10 servings.

* To "shred" the spinach, roll the leaves together like a cigar, and slice in approximately 1/4" slices.

Garlicky Kale with New Potatoes

This time of the year there's not too much available at the Farmers' Markets, but I still see greens, garlic, and potatoes, so I thought of this recipe. Hope you enjoy.

Ingredients

1. 1 large bunch of kale or collard greens
2. 24 small new potatoes (2 lbs.) scrubbed
3. 1 T olive oil
4. 1 small onion
5. 3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
6. 1/4 to 1/2 C water
7. Juice of 1/2 lemon to 1 lemon, to taste
8. Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Remove stems and thick midribs from greens. Discard stems; midribs may be finely diced and used if desired. Rinse greens several times to make sure that all sand and grit are removed.
• Steam potatoes in skins until tender. When cool enough to handle, cut in half.
• Meanwhile, in large pot or stir-fry pan, heat oil over medium heat.
• Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for 2-3 minutes.
• Add greens, cover and steam until just tender, adding 1/4 to 1/2 C water as needed (steaming time varies greatly, so check frequently, but a good estimate is 10-15 minutes).
• Drain and transfer to colander. Remove and discard garlic.
• When cool enough to handle, squeeze out excess liquid.
• In a serving bowl, combine chopped greens, potatoes and lemon juice; toss to mix.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Yield

Makes 6 servings.