Soup mix in the slow cooker

Cafe Society
1

On Thursady afternoon, I made a run to Costco for some groceries. Among other things, I picked up one of their whole rotisserie chickens, for that night’s dinner. kaylasmom had a drumstick and thigh, while I had the corresponding wing, and a healthy portion of breast meat. With mashed potatoes, it made a pretty tasty meal. So tasty, in fact, that we repeated the operation for Friday night’s dinner.

Lying in bed on Saturday afternoon, I thought about maybe boiling up some egg noodles, cracking open a can of cream of mushroom soup and a can of peas, and stripping the rest of the meat to make a chicken casserole for dinner. But, when I checked the cupboard that serves as our pantry, I discovered that we were fresh out of egg noodles. And canned peas. So I made a box of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and defrosted some beef franks to slice up into it, instead. The chicken noodle casserole idea was deferred until Sunday, when I could stop at a supermarket after work to pick up the missing items.

One thing I DID find in the cupboard/pantry was a bag of soup mix from the Honeybaked Ham store (link is for the benefit of those unfamiliar with the concern). It’s primarily white beans, with some dehydrated veggies and a seasoning packet. The accompanying label has instructions for both stove-top and slow cooker preparation, but both options call for including a ham bone (preferably a Honeybaked Ham Bone, but that’s of small importance to me). I DON’T HAVE A HAMBONE.

I DO have the remains of a rotisserie chicken carcass, though (although I did make the casserole as planned on Sunday, there’s still a significant amount of meat on there).

So my question is: is it a good idea to use the chicken carcass in place of the (recommended) ham bone to make a slow-cooker soup tomorrow?

(btw, I’m not interested in taking lot of guff about the beginning of the story having very little to do with the question of the thread. Have you seen some of the stuff that W. Somerset Maugham got away with?)

2

Sounds great to me, altho the seasoning packet may be a little strong for chicken. Use half.

3

It’ll be fine. You won’t get the smokiness of having a hambone in there. That’s pretty much the point of a ham bone. The chicken carcass will do fine and basically enrich whatever liquid you’re using with gelatin and chicken flavors.

4

Should be fine. I used to do something similar with college roommate all the time. You’ll need to look carefully for small bones and bits of the chicken carcass, as it tends to fall apart.

5

I’d make the carcass stock first, with some tasty stock vegetables (onion, carrot, celery, broccoli/cauliflower stalks).

It is easier to get all the bones out of the stock that way, and the meat off the bones.
Some people get the stock veges out at that stage, too.

Then add the soup mix and cook until tender.

6

My hesitation would be that the chicken carcass is going to leave a lot of small bones and inedible bits in the soup which will be harder to strain out than a hambone would be. I’d take si_blakely’s suggestion and make stock with the chicken (after recovering as much meat as you can), strain it, then use the liquid to make your soup.

7

Do you have any liquid smoke in the pantry? If so, add that to give it a richer flavor than you’ll get from chicken.