A Love of Soup

There are lots of reasons why I love to cook and bake. I enjoy chopping vegetables, slowly adding broth to risotto, mixing dry and wet ingredients to make muffins, mincing garlic, tossing pasta with a sauce and the list goes on and on. When Russ and I have a night at home with no plans there is nothing I enjoy more than making dinner for just the two of us. There is something especially relaxing and therapeutic to me about making soup now that the weather is cooler and it is turning dark earlier. Tonight I made a large pot of an old favorite soup of ours. It is a thick hearty chowder that involves chopping fresh vegetables, shredding chicken, sautéing them together, letting it all simmer in a bath of chicken broth, and then thickening it up with mixture of flour and milk. Stirring a large pot of thick simmering chowder on a cold night with Russ sitting at the kitchen counter and Cash sprawled out on the floor snoozing represents all that I love about cooking.

Tonight’s soup is an older CL recipe for Cheddar Chicken Chowder. I have made this recipe a couple times before so I don’t follow the amounts on the recipe, but more eyeball it. I cooked two chicken breasts in water and then shredded them. I sautéed the onion, red pepper, and garlic in a little olive oil since I omitted the bacon. I then added the chicken, potatoes and broth. I used red potatoes and left most of the skin on them because I like the color and flavor of the skin. This comes to a boil and then is reduced to a simmer and left covered for about 20 minutes. Then you add the flour / milk mixture and corn. I put the milk out on the counter earlier to let it come to room temperature. You then let it simmer until it thickens and is hot. Lastly stir in the cheese and serve.

This is a hearty soup with great flavor and texture. The broth is warm with a thick potato base to it. The red pepper not only adds great color, but also fantastic flavor – don’t leave it out or you will be missing out. I shred the chicken because I like its texture to be a contrast to the chunks of potato. The corn adds a slight sweetness to the soup and another great texture. This is a comfort food type of soup that Russ and I both love. Russ rates the soup a 10.