Chicken and Potato Chowder

So warm and comforting, this Chicken and Potato Chowder is easy to do and delicious to eat! 

Ingredients
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups chicken broth (make your own)
2 cups milk, or more, as needed
2 cups frozen, cubed potatoes or 2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups diced cooked chicken 
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tbls. chopped fresh parsley leaves

Method

Melt butter in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in thyme until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Gradually whisk in chicken broth and milk, and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in potatoes.

Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 12-15 minutes.

Stir in chicken and cheese, a handful at a time, until smooth, about 1-2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste. If the chowder is too thick, add more milk as needed until desired consistency is reached.

Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.

Enjoy,
Mary

Chicken and Veggie Soup

Nothing beats making your own Chicken Stock, and the same can be said for your own Chicken and Veggie Soup. 

I recently received a free rooster (cleaned and processed) from a good farm friend, Paradise Acres Farm, for my slow cooker.  Well I knew when I got it I wanted to "put it up" somehow, I just wasn't sure how exactly, until I decided to make Chicken and Veggie Soup.

When the rooster is slow cooked with water, carrots, onions, celery and spices in a stock pot or slow cooker, the meat is very moist and tender. Because the rooster spends its day running around with the other chickens, it is typically somewhat lean, and the meat, even the breast meat, more resembles the dark meat of a chicken. The water and added vegetables make a flavorful stock and the meat literally falls off the bones.

Ingredients
1 small rooster or stewing chicken
1 onion, quartered
1-2 carrots cut in half
2 stalks celery, cut in half
Course ground black pepper
Sea salt or seasoned salt
Other spices as desired
Water to cover all

Method
Put all ingredients in a stock pot; add enough water to cover all (several quarts).  Cover and bring to a low boil over high heat.

Reduce heat and simmer 1-2 hours or until rooster/chicken is very tender.

Using a large slotted spoon, remove the chicken (be sure to get all bones) and let cool. Meanwhile remove stock from heat, strain stock removing all the veggies, and let sit while chicken cools.

Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove all the meat from the bones; discard bones. Cut meat into large size chunks.

Canning
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
2 cups frozen or fresh green beans, chopped
2 cups frozen or fresh niblet corn
Fresh chicken stock (from above)
Chicken meat (from above)

Method
Using 3 or 4 quart canning jars, evenly add celery, carrots, green beans, corn and chicken to each jar. You want your ratio to be half solids and half liquid. Ladle hot stock over all leaving a 1-inch head-space.

Cover with rings and seals and pressure can at 11 lbs. pressure one (1) hour and 30 minutes.

Once canner has cooled, and pressure has released, remove lid partially and let jars sit inside canner another 10 minutes or so (you want them to cool down slowly to prevent any liquid from siphoning out).

Remove lid fully, then remove jars and let cool on a kitchen towel on your counter-top 24 hours. Jars are sealed when "button"  in the middle of the top of the lid is fully depressed, or you hear that wonderful "ping" sound. Store in pantry up to one year.

*Cook's note - Options when heating soup to serve:

• add 1 cup frozen cubed potatoes 
• serve over hot, cooked rice 
• mix 2 tbls. flour with 1 cup milk and add to soup to thicken and make more like a chowder
• top with shredded cheddar cheese, bacon crumbles, or diced green onion.

Yield: 3-4 quart jars

Enjoy,
Mary

© Cooking with Mary and Friends Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Cooking with Mary and Friends with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Savory Pecan Rice Casserole

Have you ever had a moment when you couldn't find one of your favorite recipes? Oh my goodness, that just happened to me a bit ago, and I was convinced I had lost it forever.

Weeks went by, then just the other day I found it while cleaning out and moving some cookbooks from one area to another (thanks to my husband painting our kitchen) ... there it was, written down on a piece of note paper tucked inside another cookbook. Whew! So glad I found this one! It's a great rice dish and makes a wonderful accompaniment for pork, poultry, beef or fish.

RECIPE
Ingredients
1/2 lb. butter (2 sticks)
4 green onions, chopped
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced (or use minced garlic in a jar)
2 cups brown or long-grained white rice
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1/8 tsp course-ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans 
5 cups chicken stock 

Method
Preheat oven to 400. Melt butter in large frying pan and saute' onions and mushrooms until golden. Add garlic and then rice, stirring frequently until rice is golden.  Mix in seasonings and pecans.

Turn into a 3 quart casserole dish sprayed with cooking spray or lightly oiled. Pour stock over rice; cover and bake 1 hour and 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.

Fluff rice with a fork and a bit of butter; let sit 10 minutes covered before serving.

Yield:  8 servings

Cook's note - recipe is easily divided in half, but also remember to reduce cooking time to approximately 35-45 minutes.

Quick Method
Don't have time to make it the long way? Here's a quick way to make it and still achieve great taste and flavor.

Combine 2 cups rice, 4 tbls. butter (cut into pieces), 4 cups chicken stock, thyme, turmeric, and pepper in a rice steamer. Cook according to recommended time on your model.  

Meanwhile, melt 4 tbls. butter in a fry pan. Add onions and saute' several minutes; add mushrooms and continue to saute' until onions and mushrooms have browned slightly.  

Toss in garlic and cook a few more minutes until well incorporated. Lastly stir in chopped pecans and cook just until slightly roasted. Remove fry pan from heat and stir mixture into steamed cooked rice; fluff with fork.  

Serve immediately.

Enjoy,
Mary

© Cooking with Mary and Friends. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Cooking with Mary and Friends with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Homemade Chicken Bone Broth

Updated and Revised October 2020

Yes, yes, yes, save those chicken carcasses, backs, leg and breast ribs (wrap and freeze them) - when you have accumulated a good amount of bones make some yummy, out-of-this-world chicken bone broth. MUCH better than store-bought, and there are oodles of ways you can use it ... chicken soup, as a base for chicken gravy, added to mashed potatoes (instead of milk), cook your egg noodles or rice in it instead of water, and much more!

And it's good for you! Bone broth is rich in minerals that help build and strengthen your bones. It also contains many other healthy nutrients, including vitamins, amino acids, and essential fatty acids. So the next time you think about throwing away those chicken bone parts, consider making your own chicken stock/bone broth instead!  No "additives," simply pure 'liquid gold" for use in your yummy dishes!

Check out this link for more ways to use Chicken Bone Broth:

25 Tasty Ways to Use Chicken Stock

Add your chicken carcasses or bones to a large stock pot or slow cooker.  Now add 3-4 large carrots, a whole onion sliced, some celery stalks, a couple tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, and water to cover it all.

Bring to a gentle boil, reduce heat and simmer for at least 5-6 hours, or until meat is falling off bones. For bone broth cook it in a large slow cooker on low 36-48 hours (this is the method I prefer).

Drain your bone broth, discarding solids. Allow bone broth to cool in your refrigerator overnight. Skim fat and either freeze or pressure can the bone broth.

For pressure canning, pour bone broth into canning jars leaving 1-inch head-space, and seal with canning lids and rings.

Process in a pressure canner 25 minutes (quart jars) at 11 lbs. pressure (or follow your pressure canner instructions).

Remove jars and allow to cool and seal.

Enjoy,
Mary

© Cooking with Mary and Friends. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Cooking with Mary and Friends with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.