Daring Cooks - September 2011 - Stock to Soup to Consomme

Peta, of the blog Peta Eats, was our lovely hostess for the Daring Cook’s September 2011 challenge, “Stock to Soup to Consommé”. We were taught the meaning between the three dishes, how to make a crystal clear Consommé if we so chose to do so, and encouraged to share our own delicious soup recipes!

I'm the kinda girl who saves chicken carcasses...I'll admit it. I come from a long line of soup makers, what can I say? So when this challenge came up, it was pretty easy to figure out what I was going to do. I rescued some of the bones from the freezer, threw in some celery, onions, a full bunch of parsley, a tablespoon or so of peppercorns, thyme and rosemary, turned the burner on and away we went. I found the key was to fill my pot with bones, tuck in the veggies (sauteed in another pan until soft), sprinkle the seasonings, and then add cold water to the top of the pot.  I let it cook for 4 hours, then strained it.  I used about half of it in the soup and I still have half left over to try and turn into consomme this week (I know, I'm late, but the consomme wasn't mandatory!)

Bubble...bubble...

I was really happy to have my fat-separator measuring cup to help get the fat out of the stock before I used it (apparently there was a lot of skin and fat in with the bones that I froze).

A handy tool

The broth itself was rich and satisfying, with a lot more flavour than I would have expected considering it was just bones and veggies.  I had to add quite a bit of salt to the soup, but it wasn't lacking for depth of flavour otherwise.



Chicken Florentine Soup

• 2 whole chicken breasts
• 8 cups chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt to taste
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 28-ounce can tomatoes, undrained
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 Tablespoon dried basil
• 2 bunches spinach, washed, stems removed and chopped
• 1 cup small dried GF pasta (or you could use rice or quinoa, if you prefer)

Poach chicken breasts in stock until fully cooked, then chop up in little pieces.  Reserve stock.

In the bottom of your soup pot, saute carrots and onions in the olive oil until soft.  Add garlic and saute for a further 2 minutes, being careful not to burn it.  

Add tomatoes, stock, bay leaves, basil, salt, pepper and pasta (I used GF orzo, but you can use pretty much any small GF noodle). Cook until the noodles are al dente.  Add chicken, and chopped up spinach.  As soon as the spinach is wilted, adjust the seasoning if necessary, and serve the soup!

The finished product!