rechelle's lifelyrics

It has begun to get cold here in Eugene, Oregon. We’ve had a few nights by the fire, and evening dinners that consisted of soup, salad, and, on occasion, some bread on the side. It’s that time of year when soup sounds like a comforting meal instead of the side dish you think of once in a while.

Last night, I made roasted vegetables that resembled the ingredients for ratatouille to go with our dinner. What was dinner? Well, I was improvising as I went along. The meal that I pieced together last night ended up providing excellent components for a wonderful soup we enjoyed today because we combined the leftovers in a hearty new recipe.

So, back to last night when Ray brought in a bunch of chicken thighs (bone-in) that he had left on the smoker all afternoon yesterday.

Most of the time, we just use “Memphis seasoning” on our smoked chicken, and it seems to work really well for a great variety of recipes once it has been de-boned. Oh, and that brings me to another kitchen hack that I almost forgot to mention! Save & freeze those bones to make wonderful homemade chicken bone broth! Just save them for now, and I’ll work on getting an official recipe put together of what I do to make outstanding broth for soups.

Last night, I decided at the last minute to boil a package of tortellini from Costco in chicken broth (quick method) to add a starch to  the meal. There was so much good broth in the stock pot, we just scooped out the tortellini we wanted, and left the rest of the liquid and pasta in the pan until after dinner. The last part of the dinner would be our salad: power greens with sliced radish & fresh yellow beet, combined with a little red onion & feta.

After dinner, it was clear that everything but the salad would make a wonderful soup for the weekend!

We had it for lunch today. It was so tasty, I decided to write down an outline of a “recipe” for another day when I have these ingredients on hand.

Before we go any further with this, I just want to encourage you to experiment with the ideas I present in these pages. You will enjoy the experience so much more if you take the liberty to “make it your own” instead of stressing on how to do it exactly like someone else has done.

Ratatouille Style Roasted Vegetables:

• Olive Oil
• Dried Minced Onion
• Zucchini
• Yellow Bell Pepper
• Mushrooms
• Eggplant
• Peeled Carrot
• Fresh Tomatoes
• Fresh Parsley, Thyme, & Marjoram leaves (discard the stems)
• Fresh Garlic
• Salt & Pepper to taste
  • Coat the bottom of a large roasting pan with olive oil
  • Add a generous amount of dried minced onion and set aside
  • Preheat oven: Convection Bake @ 425°
  • Clean & Chop all vegetables to be about the same size for even cooking
  • (Add to the roasting pan as you go!)
  • Clean & Chop all herbs and sprinkle over vegetables
  • Press garlic and add salt & pepper over mixture
  • Add extra oil if needed while you thoroughly mix and coat all ingredients
  • Roast for 20-30 minutes until corners of the vegetables just start to brown

Tortellini and Chicken Broth – Quick Method:

• 3 quarts water
• 4 Tablespoons Knorr Chicken Bullion (1/4 cup)
• 1.5 lbs. 3 cheese tortellini
  • Bring water & bullion to the boil & stir until all granules are dissolved
  • Add tortellini and simmer for about 2.5 minutes
  • Make sure to slightly undercook the pasta and turn off the fire when leaving pasta in the broth, because it continues to cook with the heat of the water
  • TIP: If you’re not sure how quickly you will consume the soup, you may choose to bag up the leftover pasta separate from the rest of the soup ingredients. This will aid in keeping your pasta as fresh as possible (without it breaking down and getting mushy in the liquid) until the next time you want to serve it. You can even freeze baggies of cooked pasta!

Smoked Chicken Thighs:

• Chicken thighs with skin and bones in place
• Memphis style seasoning (smoked sea salt, brown sugar, cane sugar, vinegar powder, dried onion, paprika, dried garlic, yeast extract, chipotle pepper, rice concentrate, ginger, citric acid, spanish thyme, rosemary, savory, cloves) I just have to say I was really not aware of some of these ingredients! This is something I’ve been buying from my local Fred Meyer store for years. For more information about this product, and others that are distributed by the Kroger Company, please visit www.privateselection.com
  • We always rinse and thoroughly dry (with paper towels) our meat before preparing it.
  • Trim excess skin or fat
  • Season all sides of meat generously
  • Smoke 4 – 6 hours at 160° – 180°
  • Verify internal temperatures to ensure completion of cook process
  • Remove meat from smoker and clean smoker, grill mats, etc.
  • Serve as part of the meal or remove meat from the bones (and freeze the bones for later use!)

We enjoyed each of these recipes as a really nice dinner last night, and then combined all of the broth, tortellini, vegetables, and an adequate portion of the meat that Ray took off of the bones into containers for soup. I froze some of it for another day when I don’t feel like cooking, but we are enjoying most of it this weekend. Also, I was able to freeze the rest of the chicken thighs in a gallon baggy for another day. Who knows? Maybe it will become enchiladas, tacos, stir fry, casserole, or another soup in the weeks to come. I will tell you, it is really nice to have some of the work done for the day that I’m unexpectedly not up to my normal pace of meal planning and preparation!