I decided to make some chicken soup. Starting with broth/stock I made a while ago and that has been in the freezer for a while, I added some curly kale, most of a coarsely-chopped onion, sliced carrots, sliced celery, a diced potato, a couple of bay leaves, chicken cooked in a little oil and garlic, a bit of salt, a bit of freshly-ground black pepper, and a dash of cayenne pepper. It’s been simmering for a couple of hours.
I have a pint of half-and-half. Should I put it in, or not?
Well, I think it’s entirely a matter of preference. I probably wouldn’t in my case, because I like a more “traditional”, brothy, chicken soup. What I might be tempted to do however for something different, is to maybe make it a more refined, hearty and silky, cream soup by blending/pureeing half of the soup and meat/veg with the half and half and adding that back to the remaining soup in the pot. A kind of Chicken Cream of Kale soup, maybe?
I make faboo chicken soup. But I usually make a lot of it. So for variety, I often splash in some half-and-half to make it a kind of cream soup. It’s especially good if you add a little garlic. And sometimes bacon. Or corn. Or all a that. But mostly bacon.
I’ve just had half a bowl, and I think I’ll keep it cow juice-free. I have plenty, and if I want to I can make a roux and add some half-and-half later.
This is my first time using curly kale. Usually I use the less-curly kind (when I make colcannon).
A few teaspoons of evaporated milk make a lovely addition to chicken soup - in my opinion. I don’t like half & half unless you have a lot of it, it makes it too creamy for normal chicken soup but not creamy enough for cream of chicken soup.
You have inspired me to make chicken soup this weekend, but I think I’ll use some cabbage instead of kale.
On one hand, my mom will sometimes add coffee creamer to her chicken noodle soup. On the other, she never makes a soup with milk in it without adding potatoes. And, if it has anything else in it, she thickens it and calls it a type of stew.
Me? I follow her instructions, and inevitably get food that doesn’t taste quite as good.
BTW, My mom went to cooking school; that’s why I cite her in these cooking threads.
You know? I thought about a splash of lemon in the bowl. I should try that at lunchtime, if I remember.
I heated some soup in the microwave oven last night, and didn’t get it boiling hot; and I had a salad before I ate the soup. Being cooler than normal really brought out the cayenne pepper. I’d only put a dash in it when I made the soup, and it’s just right. Not spicy, but you can taste it. I’m tempted to put in some Sriracha sauce with the lemon. Too bad I don’t have any noodles or bean sprouts. (Might be strange with the potato anyway.)