Cooking | Page 7 of 7 | Coffee, Clutter and Chaos

For anyone who has been reading my posts for awhile you have read about my bff The NewYorRican. We have been friends for 6 years, and we just had instant chemistry when we met. I really consider her a sister, and she is amazing! Brave, loud, strong, funny, beautiful, smart, etc etc. She is exactly what you would expect from a smart New York Puerto Rican woman!

She is also an amazing cook, and has taught me how to make Puerto Rican beans and rice in a caldero. (Literally mans “Sturdy cooking pot”). She uses sofrito for the beans, and her rice is amazing too. I will post those recipes one day as well. Your tummy will thank me!!

Anyway, we were having coffee last week, and I knew she had made Orroz con Pollo for her daughter’s 19th birthday dinner. I asked her what she did with the chicken carcass and she said , “I threw it out”. My eyes must have bulged in my head because she took a step back from me. I was all, “You mean you didn’t use the carcass to make soup?” She was all, “I don’t know how to do that Ca.” So we decided since I am not going to be able to get into college this semester (a different post for a different day) and I would have some extra time on my hands we could have cooking classes together. I could teach her how to make the foods I make for my family such as chicken noodle soup, beef and barley stew, potato soup, pork tenderloin, etc, and she could teach me how to make the foods she cooks for her family. A deal was struck and we started right away.

A few days ago the NewYorRican served her family roasted chicken and I told her to put th carcass in the refrigerator. She did and the next day we made:

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

1 chicken carcass, water to cover, 3 cups chicken stock or 3 bouillon cubes, celery, carrots, dill weed, i small package egg noodles.

Chicken soup is the least expensive and in my opinion the tastiest way to make homemade chicken noodle soup. This is how The NewYorRican made her soup:

She placed the chicken carcass in a large pot and covered it with water. Then she boiled the chicken for 1 hour. Once it had boiled for an hour she placed a colander in another large pot and poured the chicken and the chicken stock into the other pot, reserving the carcass to pull the meat off after it had cooled.

chick in pit — Chicken carcass in pot with water, getting ready to be boiled.

The pot with the chicken stock went back onto the stove and The NewYorRican added three chicken bouillon cubes to intensify the chicken flavor of the stock. She then peeled carrots and chopped them into pieces and put them in the pot.

She also chopped celery into pieces and put them in the pot. Then she added about 2 tsp of dill weed (to taste). By then the chicken carcass was cool enough to touch and she proceeded to pull the remaining chicken from the carcass to put into the soup.

She let all of the flavors simmer for about 30 minutes, tasting as it simmered until the sup reached the flavor she wanted. 15 minutes before serving she added a small bag of egg noodles, and once they were cooked (in about 10 minutes) she served the soup to her family.

Soup prior to noodles being added:

Soup after noodles were added and cooked. (Sorry it is so dark).

The NewYorRican is a wonderful photographer. I will beg her to use her amazing Canon camera next time. 🙂

I borrowed this photo from the internet because this is how her soup looked up close:

Chicken-Noodle-Soup — YUM! Hearty and healthy!

You ca season your soup to your taste. Some other spices that can be added are: thyme, garlic, and of course salt and pepper to taste as well. Since she used a rotisserie chicken the chicken added lots of yummy flavor to the soup. I am a huge fan of dill in chicken sop (my dad always used that when he made Chicken soup with Matzo Balls).

I know her family enjoyed the soup, and now she has another recipe in her arsenal against the never ending battle to feed a large family healthy, hearty, inexpensive meals. 🙂

I planted my first outdoor garden ever this spring!!

I have been so happy with my little garden….my first foray into the world of gardening in the ground! In past years I have always grown my tomatoes and herbs in pots on my deck. This year I decided I wanted a garden in the ground and Bluebell tilled me up a small 6×6 plot. Of course I was overly ambitious it turns out and planted TOO much in such a small space, but who knew??

I planted three tomato plants, a yellow girl, a beefsteak and a Roma. The yellow plant was diseased and we had to pull it up and throw it away pretty early in the season. This made me very sad, since although I love tomatoes when I eat them I get blisters on my tongue from the acid content. Yellow tomatoes have a lower acid content and don’t give me blisters. Oh well, I knew blisters would abound, but I would enjoy my lovely tomatoes nonetheless!!

I also planted two green pepper plants and one yellow pepper plant. In addition I have basil, chives, lavender, oregano, rosemary, cilantro, and thyme.

As the spring moved into summer, I was surprised by the early harvest of tomatoes. The beefsteak tomato plant grew about 4 feet tall and two feet wide. And the Roma plant grew the same !! We have had tomatoes coming out of our ears, so I decided I wanted to can them so we can enjoy them all winter long!

I looked for ball jars and canning supplies at my local Walmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Target. Nobody had a large canner, so I had to order it from Walmart online and have it delivered to the house. I found a great website that walked me thorough the canning process and away we went!!

We blanched the tomatoes in boiling water for 45 seconds, then put them in an ice water bath.