CREAM OF CHICKEN SOUP
You Will Need:
- 4 Tablespoons of butter
- 1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons flour (I use unbleached all purpose)
- 2 cups chicken broth (made from boiling chicken thighs or whole chicken *Recipe is below)
- 1 cup milk (whole milk will make this richer, but 2% milk can be used)
- 1 stalk celery that's been chopped and sauteed in butter, (I use sauteed celery, but 1/4 tsp. celery powder can be substituted)
- small amount of chopped yellow onion, sauteed in butter, about equal to the amount of celery used, (I use sauteed onion, but 1/4 tsp. onion powder can be substituted)
- 1/3 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- sprinkle black pepper (optional)
In a small pot warm milk to room temperature set aside. In a large pot melt butter over medium heat, cook about 2 to 3 minutes. Add flour and whisk continuously for 3-5 minutes, mixture will look dry. Remove from the heat, add half of the chicken broth, whisk well, add the other half and whisk well, add milk, seasoning, and cooked onion and celery, mix well. Return to heat medium-high, continue whisking so that it is smooth, and until it gets thick. Remove from heat once it thickens. It will thicken more after removed from heat.
Note: this recipe will require constantly stirring with whisk.
This makes 2, 10.5oz cans of soup that you can use in recipes. This can be refrigerated up to a week and frozen up to 4 months. Recipe can be doubled or tripled for freezing and prepping for future recipes.
Enjoy!
HOMEMADE CHICKEN BROTH RECIPE
(Sorry, I forgot to get a photo of the broth and it's frozen now)
You Will Need:
- 4 chicken thighs or a whole chicken
- water to cover chicken
- heaping teaspoon of sea salt
- sprinkle of poultry seasoning (I just sprinkle a little bit in)
- sprinkled desired amount of black pepper (optional)
- celery, carrots, onions, (optional)
Place ingredients in a large Dutch oven pot or a stock pot, bring to a boil on high heat, reduce heat to a simmer low boil, cover with a lid tilted, and cook for 45minutes to an hour. I cook a whole chicken for an hour, chicken pieces will take a little less time. I check to make sure it's done by poking it with a fork, to make sure no blood comes from the chicken. When done, carefully remove chicken from pot, place on a plate, set aside, to cool, then debone for a recipe. Broth is ready to use in recipes calling for chicken broth. To freeze, let the broth cool, then pour into freezer containers to freeze. Leave about a 1/2 inch space between the freezer container and lid, for expansion of liquid, as it becomes frozen. A fat separating measuring cup can be used to separate the fat from the broth, if desired.
Note: I've used both homemade chicken broth and homemade cream of chicken soup in my recipes to reduce the amount of preservatives in our diet. It tastes better to us than store bought. It does take some planning ahead for meals, like making sure broth and cream of chicken soup is in the freezer, but it is so worth it, because at least I know what went into it.
Enjoy!