Soup: Split Pea With Chicken

There comes a time, usually in the summer, when the freezer becomes overrun with chicken bodies. That time was today.

And nothing in the fridge for lunch. But I've got a package of split peas in the cupboard. Who cares if it's 90 degrees outside? Let's make soup!

Three chicken bodies and 6-9 cups of water, depending on how thick you want your soup. Simmer for an hour. Cool for a few minutes, then pick some chicken off the bones. [update: I tried 6 cups, I think 7 might be better]

Chopped/sauteed about a half onion from the fridge's veggie drawer in a couple TBS of buttery.

Add back the broth and chicken, plus the split peas. Bring back to a boil, simmer for an hour or so. [update: I tried to get away with simmering for just 30 minutes, but I think at least 40-45 might be needed]

Salt and pepper to taste.

Italian Wedding Soup

I found this great recipe for Italian Wedding Soup.

I used a one-pound box of baby spinach for the greens.

Instead of the three kinds of meat, I just used a pound of ground turkey.

Gillian's (unseasoned) gluten free bread crumbs worked very nicely.

I made the meatballs smaller - about 3/4 inch - which I find much nicer for soup.

And when you put them into the broth, it's a good idea to count them, so you know just how many you have if you're divvying them up for a large crowd. This batch served thirteen people as a soup course with a couple cups left over.

The spinach and puffed-up meatballs insisted on floating to the top, so swirling in the egg and cheese mixture was a bit difficult. I actually removed a bunch of it to perform this step!

Also worth noting: The meatball parsley should be chopped finely. And the recipe calls for a teaspoon of minced garlic - two cloves in the garlic press was just the right amount.

Garnish means "don't eat me" in Italian. Next time I'd use whole leaves of parsley and more coarsely grated cheese. (yes, eat the cheese)

Here's a pantry/fridge/freezer/shopping list for your convenience:

3 quarts homemade chicken stock (I might have used four? sorry, not sure)
1 lb. ground turkey
1 cup unseasoned (gluten free for my needs) bread crumbs
1/8 lb. Parmigiano-Reggiano (sorry, not sure how much I actually used)
3 large eggs
a medium onion
a bunch of fresh parsley
two cloves of garlic
kosher salt
black pepper grinder

Soup: Split Pea with Turkey

Thanksgiving took place under my roof, so naturally I took custody of the turkey carcass - with an eye toward soup, of course! On the other hand, I've had a hankering for split pea soup, but preferring to avoid all the sodium that ham is full of.

Enter this recipe. I used turkey broth instead of chicken. And instead of ham, I used the turkey that boiled off the bones during the broth-making. And I left out the salt (and forgot about the pepper).

It's really good!

There's still plenty of broth left over, some of which will turn into Sherry Noodle Soup. But I also plan to make a batch (or half batch) of split pea with a cup of water swapped out for sherry. UPDATE: I swapped 1/2 cup water for sherry, which really helps when you cook without salt. It was a great addition!

Sherry Noodle Soup (v2!)

Back in the day, you could find my recipe for Sherry Noodle Soup on dave-net.com. Well that old domain is long gone. And sadly, I don't think you can even find it on The Wayback Machine!

But I found it on a hard drive and decided to cook up a batch. But nah, that recipe needed a little tweak here and there. So without further ado, here's version two...

Sherry Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

• A couple chicken bodies or one turkey frame, with a little meat left on (you'll want about two cups of meat off the bones later)
• 3 quarts, water
• 1 medium-large onion (half quartered, half chopped)
• 2 tsp, salt (if you really must)
• 1 cup, dry sherry
• 1½ tsp, oregano
• 1 tsp, thyme
• 1/8 tsp, ground black pepper
• 2 cups, chopped carrots
• 2 cups, chopped celery
• 2 cups, raw mushrooms (optional)
• 1 lb, cooked pasta (or dry + ??? cups, water TBD)

Combine meaty bones, water, half of the onion (quartered) in a large pot. Bring to boil and then simmer for an hour or so.

Remove everything from the broth. Salvage whatever meat you can from the bones. Discard the bones and the soggy onion and the other yucky stuff. Set aside two cups of meat for later. The rest will make a nice sandwich! you can give to your dog! ONLY GIVE MEAT TO YOUR DOG IF YOU LEAVE OUT THE ONION.

Strain the broth. If you like, you can let it cool and skim the fat off the top.

Combine the broth with the meat and the rest of the raw onion (chopped) and everything else except for the pasta, which you should save for later. Bring it all to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes.

Add the pasta (cooked or dry plus ??? cups of water) and simmer for another ten minutes or so.

Enjoy!!

Update (12/11/18): I made this with mushrooms for the first time the other day, and I really liked how it turned out!