My homemade chicken noodle soup—2009 edition.
Cooking and cooler weather seem to go hand and hand in my world. And my first goal is to start filling the freezer with some good home made soups to get me through the next few months. And with cold and flu season coming—no doubt you've heard about that this year—chicken soup is first on my list. I bought a chicken at the farmers market and started reviewing recipes. I couldn't find the perfect combination in any of the books so I improvised. I wanted something pretty traditional with lots of vegetables. I ended up with chicken, green beans, corn, carrots, celery, onions, peas and lots of noodles. Not to mention a concoction of spices that I had on hand. Most notably some dried basil and a pinch of cayenne pepper. I probably over did the noodles. I think it would have been wise to have broken them up a bit more because they're big and sloppy and hard to fit on a spoon. Oh well, now I know.
Week two I made a great beef stew. I actually bought a beef roast, but I got out my mom's old Fanny Farmer cook book and it said that if the roast is less than 4 pounds it's better to use it for stew meat, otherwise the roast would probably be dry. See, I'm learning and in fact I have done small roasts in the past that just never really came out great. I'm just one guy so I always bought small roasts. Along with the tender beef chunks the stew owns potatoes, peas, carrots, green beans and onions in a great broth. Ahhhh, winter is looking good.
And today, a sweet potato and black bean soup. Actually it should be called a vegetable soup with black beans. Of course all locally grown veges from the Hilldale farmer's market. Next time I'm adding another can of beans. The cayenne pepper gives it a good kick. So that's a great start on the filling the freezer. I think a good chili is next.
It was a nice weekend. I've been cleaning up the studio for the Open Arts Studio Tour next weekend. Don't forget. Artist's all over Madison and Dane County are opening up their studios to the public the weekend of October 17 and 18 from 11:00am to 5pm. You can view samples of all the artists participating at the Community Galleries of the Overture Performing Arts Center downtown. Grab a map and plan your own custom tour of your favorite artists. As for me, I'll be working on some lamps during the weekend with about 30 or so on display. Hopefully the rain, sleet and snow will hold off for a little while and give us a great weekend for the tour. Have a great week and feel free to send your favorite soup or cold weather recipes. I'm always looking for more. m
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