Happy 50th post!

Previously recorded:

This is our 50th post, and it's a good one guys. Tonight's meal is brought to you by my mom, www.smittenkitchen.com and the blizzard that is headed this way.

I wanted something hot and satisfying that would last us a few days, in case (fingers crossed) we get snowed in. Chicken soup, the kind my mom used to make-- perfect. I also had some scallions leftover from a few nights ago, so I grabbed some cheese on my way home and made some cheese scallion drop biscuits.

I have never made chicken soup before using a whole chicken, so this was an adventure. My mom made this for us a lot growing up, so I called her to get some tips.

It's pretty easy, actually. To make the stock, stick a whole chicken in a pot, cover it with water and cook it for an hour or so.

Don't worry, it had a good life. Which means we'll have a good dinner.

Add chopped celery, carrots and onions for flavor. Also, add some fresh herbs and pepper. I used oregano, my favorite.

Work it, girl... do your thang

While this is cooking, I made the biscuits. On Smitten Kitchen, the recipe called for blue cheese. I just substituted cheddar.

Forgive me if I just copy and paste...

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick or 3 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 1/2 cups crumbled blue cheese
4 scallions, finely chopped
1 cup well-shaken buttermilk (or, you can make your own)

Preheat oven to 450°F. Whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, then blend in butter with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. 





Stir in cheese and scallions. 








Add buttermilk and stir until just combined.

Drop dough in 12 equal mounds about 2 inches apart onto a buttered large baking sheet, or one lined with parchment paper. Bake in middle of oven until golden, 16 to 20 minutes.

If you're curious about making your own buttermilk, you add 1T vinegar to 1c milk. Let it sit for about 10 minutes until it curdles. Ta-da! Buttermilk!

My biscuits weren't as fluffy as I would've liked them to be, but they turned out pretty tasty anyway.

Meanwhile, back at the soup...

It smells really good. It's been cooking about an hour now, so what I'll do is drain the stock into another bowl, and let the chicken cool so I can take it off of the bone.

Like so...

chicken love

Happy Valentine's

Then I throw the meat back into the pot with the veggies and the stock, which I've seasoned with salt and pepper, to taste.

This is where you can add whatever else you want. My mom always threw in some egg noodles. I like quinoa. We didn't have any, so we ate it as is tonight. I would definitely add a little something extra next time. But it's still good, just like mom used to make...





Thanks so much for sticking with us for our first 50 posts! Maybe for our 100th we'll have a cake or something. Oh, and be sure to vote for your favorite food-related movie on the sidebar ------->
Maybe we'll make something from the winning movie?