Chicken Soup x 2

There is a local Acadian chicken dish called Fricot which is very yummy. It is like a thick chicken stew full of chicken, potatoes, onions, sometimes dumplings (I don't) and a scattering of carrots. I sampled some at a farmers market and knew I had to try to make some.

You can buy fricot seasonings but to honour my Acadian roots, I just concocted something that looked and tasted good.

The reason why I called this chicken soup x 2 is the first night, it was a rich, hearty dish but the second day, we wanted something lighter so you'll see what I did ;)

Chicken Fricot

3 lbs of chicken thighs, skin on. You could also use a whole chicken

6 or 7 peeled and washed potatoes

4 peeled and washed carrots

2 peeled and washed parsnips

2 large onions, diced

salt and pepper to taste

Put the chicken thighs in a very large pot and cover with water (put a couple more inches of water above the height of the chicken). Add salt and pepper to taste as well as half of the onions and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about an hour, until the meat is falling off the bones, adding more water if it reduces too much.

Remove all the chicken pieces making sure to get all the bones out. Put on a large platter and let cool until you can handle. Cut up all of the vegetables into small pieces and add to the broth. Let cook while you remove the meat. I only used half of the meat and saved the rest for a future soup or stew. Make sure you save the bones to roast for more broth.

Add the meat to the stew and let simmer. You may thicken if desired but it is not necessary. Serve.

This was very rich and hearty. My father who doesn't like chicken stew or parsnips LOVED it. He ate two heaping bowls. It was very good and very satisfying.

Second Time Around

4 cups of leftover fricot

4 cups of water

chicken spices if desired (I have a blend of sage, thyme, onion, garlic, marjoram and rosemary which was very nice)

Put these in a pot and bring to a gentle simmer over medium to medium high heat.

Mark actually liked it the second time around. He isn't as into rich food as I am. I thought both were equally good and will certainly make it again! The above picture is from the second day since I felt silly taking pictures of my food with Dad there.

Part of Real Food Wednesdays at Kelly The Kitchen Kop and Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet!

A Hearty Lunch

One thing I like about the kids being in school is I can experiment with meals for lunch. I had the idea in my head for today's lunch since last week but I wanted to wait for a day that Mark would be home for lunch. He suggested we go to KFC for lunch. I thought about it, but realized that once again, something made at home would be better. In case you're wondering why every Tuesday we think about KFC, well, it's because it's "Toonie Tuesday" which means a two piece meal is only $2.79 or so (It used to be $2, which is a Canadian "toonie" but the price keeps going up). I really want to stop eating junk food and find healthy fast home alternative meals instead :)

This took hardly any time to make, about half an hour start to finish. What is it?, you may be wondering. It is Potato Leek Soup served with onion cheese cornmeal muffins. This meal is 100% local-ish (within 100 miles) and 90% organic!

I started by making the muffins. I used a Speerville "Cornucopia" mix. These are $4.49 at Sobeys, all organic, no GMO's, stone ground and local. I used the basic recipe on the side, 2 1/2 cups of mix, 1.5 cups of milk, a glug of oil (my usual method), I used two eggs instead of one and mixed without over mixing. I added in a half cup of grated cheese (could of used more) and about a quarter cup of salted green onions. I poured into heart shaped silicone muffin liners and baked about 20 minutes while I prepared the rest of lunch. (I also have "Pharoh's Favorite" mix which I hope to use soon. This was more expensive at $5.49 a box).

For the soup, I thinly sliced 4 peeled and washed potatoes. This went into a large pot then covered with cold water and 2 sliced onions. While this came to a boil, I thoroughly washed then sliced a big bunch of leeks (about 6). When the potatoes were tender, I added the leeks, a hunk of butter, a couple pinches of salt then let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Before serving I added about a cup of milk. It would be better with cream but I didn't have any. I sprinked with dried herbs before serving (it is a salad mix with garlic, onion, shallots, red onions and parsley). Add a pat of butter on top and serve!

I asked Mark if it was better than KFC and he said it kind of was. The soup was very light but delightful and satisfying to eat. It would be very rich and yummy with cream. The muffins were moist and very tasty. They were very hearty and satisfying. I'm glad we stayed home for lunch :)

As an aside, we have one more store egg before we start eating only free range, farmers market eggs. I know the season for them isn't long so we will enjoy it while we can. The funny thing is that many of the store eggs have much darker yolks than the farmers eggs. Hmmmm.

This post is part of Twister Tuesday at http://gnowfglins.com!!

Simple Soup

I think we sometimes complicate food. Food doesn't always have to be complicated. It does not always have to be a big ordeal to prepare.

I have two simple recipes I made the other day that were big hits.

My first soup actually started as leftovers. For supper the night before, I took an onion, green pepper and a red pepper, julienned (a fancy word for cutting into long, thin strips) and sautéed it in extra virgin olive oil. When still crisp, I added a can of tomatoes. I heated through and it served as a side dish. The next day, I pureed it in the blender, added some cumin and served it as a cold soup. It was delicious, but would of also been good heated.

For the second recipe, well, it is too easy for words. I am trying to get the kids to eat more veggies. My son does not like about 95% of vegetables. He turned his nose up at my vegetable concoction, wouldn't even try a piece of plain tomato. So for their soup, I pureed a can of tomatoes and, since I am in the process of weaning them, added a can of Campbells tomato soup. I didn't add any water or anything. I heated it and they thought it was the best tomato soup they ever had. I was worried the seeds would turn them off but I don't even think they noticed. Eventually, it will be pureed tomato and cream. Still simple.

I don't like using canned vegetables and in the near future, I hope to use all home canned but that is hard to do in the winter. Somehow we got stuck with a lot of cans of tomatoes and I have to figure out how to use them up. I have a pile to donate to the food bank but we still have tons. I need to find some recipes that call for lots of canned tomatoes!

Split Pea Soup

This is a wonderful, inexpensive and very versatile dish. You can easily make it vegetarian or make it traditionally with ham. I usually don't measure my ingredients but here is a rough estimation. You can adjust accordinly. You can also make it on the stove or crockpot. I prefer crockpot as it's hands off. Just throw everything in and you have rich soup at the end of the day.

Split Pea Soup

1 lb dried split peas
1 cup each of chopped celery, carrots and onions
6-8 cups water or broth
1 cup minced ham
Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse peas well. You may soak overnight but it is not necessary. Combine everything in a large pot or a large crockpot. Let simmer 2 hours on stove or 8+ hours in the crockpot on low (4-5 on high). Make sure it doesn't get dried out. If you want a creamy texture, blend with hand blender or beaters.