Grilled Chicken

Bo knows baseball, my Dad knows chicken!

Tonight he made the. best. chicken. EVER.  His family has always made grilled chicken, basted with a buttery worcestershirey sauce like you'd find at a fire department chicken bbq!  Pap had a big pit with a grill grate across it.  We'd have cookouts and Pap, my Dad and my uncles would make the chicken.  Memories.  

Tonight he kicked it up a notch!  The traditional recipe involves a lot of dumping and approximately goes like this!

1 Stick Margarine

1 Tbsp Vinegar

1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

Salt and Pepper

Combine the ingredients in a small saucepan until the butter is melted.  Taste it.  It should make you gasp a little when you take a spoonful.  That's how you know you have enough vinegar...don't worry, it'll cook off!  Grill it, preferable over charcoal, basting with the sauce until it's done!  This chicken makes me smile.  It makes my belly smile.  It's one of Pap Emig's legacies!

Tonight, my Dad, he changed things up a bit.  Good changes.  Happy changes!  The title of this post does it no justice, but what else would you call it?

1 Stick Margarine

1 Tbsp Vinegar

1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 Tbsp Ketchup

Cayenne Pepper

Paprika

Sugar

Combine the ingredients in a small saucepan until the butter is melted.  Add a couple of shakes of the cayenne, more if you like it spicy.  Add a couple of shakes of paprika.  I think the paprika is more for color than taste.  Taste it.  It should make you gasp a little when you take a spoonful.  The rest is history!  He took something that was already wonderful and turned it into an amazing sort of barbecue sauce.  Love it!  Love him!

Chicken Corn Soup

I realize that most of my posts are about soup.  Today is no exception!  Soup is one of my favorite things.  It's comforting and brings back so many memories of cooking with my mom and dad.  Chicken corn soup is one of the big ones and my all-time favorite.  I remember my mom and aunts sitting at Gramma's kitchen table picking the meat from the bones.  I remember my Aunt Mary picking the chicken neck.  Aunt Sue eats the organs, blech!  (I toss the neck, but only after I cook it for broth and the organs go straight in the trash!)  I believe my mom went into labor with me on the way to Gramma's for chicken corn soup!  

For many years, mom and dad, my sister and her family, and Jason and I would visit Ocean City.  On the first day of our trip, we would make a big pot of chicken corn soup for the family to eat during the week.  Every year at the Hengst family reunion, Aunt Betty and her family make chicken corn soup for our whole family to share.  There are as many as 200 Hengsts in attendance.  I've heard that they put butter in theirs, but it may be an urban legend.  I've tried it and it doesn't taste like Aunt Betty's!  Speaking of the Hengst reunion, Linda says that Uncle June's turtle soup recipe is made the same as chicken corn, just with ground turtle and cloves.  From Linda Sleeger-Williams:

"He made it like chicken corn soup, except the meat was ground turtle meat, and then the cloves. That's what made it grey in color. So, cook turtle, diced potatoes, corn, (he always liked shoe peg), hard boiled eggs, salt, pepper, and cloves. I think what made it the best was the butcher kettle he cooked it in. Maybe once he put some carrots in it."

It's funny how a food can be such an important part of your life, but somehow it is.  Chicken corn soup is special to me.  It's comforting, in more ways than one.  I learned the make this soup the way my family always did.  Over the years, I've made it my own.  My aunts and mom add a can of creamed corn.  You could, but I don't.  Probably because I never remember to buy it!  I add extra hard boiled eggs.  The yolks break down and my broth gets creamy.  Do not add the eggs if you intend to freeze it, they'll get rubbery!  I set aside a big bowl to freeze before I add my eggs.

Today's version was especially good so I thought I'd update my recipe and share!  Frozen or fresh corn is a must.  I cannot stand canned corn!  I used 5 ears of fresh corn and 1 bag each of white and yellow frozen corn.  I cut the corn off the cob and then scraped the cob to get the extra juices.  Then I tossed the empty cobs right into the soup to get every last bit of flavor.  Around here, we have Cope's corn.  It's almost as good as corn on the cob!  I also add kluski noodles instead of regular egg noodles.  They don't break down the way regular egg noodles do!

4-5 Chicken Leg Quarters or Bone-in Breasts (or a whole chicken)

3 Bags Frozen White or Yellow Sweet Corn

4 Large Diced Potatoes

6 Eggs Hard Boiled Chopped (optional—doesn’t freeze well)

½ Bag Kluski Noodles

2 Cartons Swanson Unsalted Chicken Stock

Chicken Bouillon or Chicken Base

2 Cups Chopped Fresh Parsley or ½ Cup Dried Parsley

Salt and Pepper or Seasoned Salt

Water

Cover chicken in water.  Sprinkle with Salt and Pepper or Seasoned Salt (or Mrs. Dash Table Blend for less salt) and boil for at least 1 hour or until tender and juices are clear when stuck with a fork (or in a Crock Pot on low for at least 6 hours).  Remove meat from the bone and tear into bite-size pieces.  Strain the broth for bones.  Return the meat to the broth.  Add the corn, potatoes and eggs.  Add chicken stock (more or less to as needed for taste and liquid).  Add chopped fresh parsley or dried parsley.  Simmer for 15 minutes.  Bring to a boil.  Add the noodles, breaking them into smaller pieces.  Cook according to package instructions or until tender.  

Taste the broth and add chicken base or salt as needed, or stock and water if needed.

Mary's Magical Healing Soup

Get ready people, this is the first family recipe!

I come from a very large family.  My maternal great grandmother Mary (Molly) Joseph was one of eleven children.  Her daughter, my gramma, Dorothy (Toot) grew up with 8 brothers and sisters.  There are lots of "cousins".  Even if you're not MY cousin, you're probably a cousin to someone! 

In the world of cousins, our family calls them "removed".  There are varying degrees of being removed.  First cousin once removed, or second cousin once removed.  I do not know who is what, so I call them all cousin!

My cousin Mary is the daughter of Ruth (Rudy).  Rudy and my gramma were sisters.  Mary is one of the most kind, generous and loving people I know.  I've heard that she is her mother's daughter.  I'm sad that I never knew Rudy.  I am lucky to know Mary and have her in my life, my Mimi.  Many years ago, she was on a business trip and had a bad cold.  She had this wonderful soup in a restaurant and knew she needed to recreate it at home.  It probably should have a real name, perhaps Rosemary Chicken Soup, or Carrot and Rosemary Soup.  I call it Mary's Magical Healing Soup because it truly does make you feel better.  Always curious, I wanted to know why it makes me feel better.  Why does this soup make my head feel clearer and my breathing easier?

The internet is educational...I learned that rosemary has a long history of medicinal uses.  It has been used to treat a wide range of ailments, including stomach upsets, digestive disorders and headaches. Carrots contain high levels of vitamin A, a vitamin that helps improve the strength of your immune system.  Carrots are also believed to prevent heart disease, cancer and macular degeneration, improve eyesight, and a reduced risk of stroke and diabetes.  Chicken is a good source of iron and protein, two nutrients that can help build your immunity.  Iron is important for your immunity because it helps ensure that your blood cells receive the oxygen they need to protect you from viruses or bacteria that could make you sick. A diet with sufficient amounts of protein helps your body create antibodies that can fight off illness.

This is good soup!  The carrots are sweet and the rosemary is so flavorful.  It simmers together to become a creamy wonderfully warming and relaxing dish!

8 Chicken Leg Quarters                         ½ Box Orzo Pasta

5 Lbs Carrots (from market are sweet)    Chicken Stock

3 Onions (diced)                                  Chicken Bouillon

6 Celery Stalks (diced)

Rosemary – Plastic Container in Produce Aisle

                  

In a large stock pot, cover the chicken with water.  Boil for at least 1 hour until cooked through.  Remove the chicken from the pot (reserving this homemade broth) and remove the meat from the bone.  Cut or tear into bite sized pieces.  Return the chicken to the broth.  (Strain the broth to make sure it's free of bones and other gunk)

Shred 3 carrots into the stock pot and add the celery and onions.  Add the remaining carrots into the pot cut into large pieces.  Smash the carrots into smaller bits as they get soft.  Add all of the rosemary leaves or keep some aside in an herb strainer to remove before serving.  Add the pasta and follow the cooking time on the box.  Add chicken stock and extra bouillon as needed for liquid and taste!

Chicken Meatball Soup

I'll call this the un-wedding soup.  I love all food, especially soup.  I love soup a lot!  Italian Wedding Soup, however, is one that I just can't do.  I've tried.  So I thought that if I make it, surely I'll like it too.  (I'm that conceited to think that I could make it better than any restaurant)

I couldn't do it!  I couldn't bring myself to even try it at home.  I made the meatballs and then I bailed.  I felt like such a failure until my resulting concoction turned out pretty good...and then the leftovers were even better.  So, tonight I tried to re-create my un-wedding soup.  It's about like I remember, and now we're looking forward to the leftovers!

Ingredients

Meatballs

1 Lb Ground Chicken Breast                    2 Tbsp Grated Parmesan Cheese

¼ Cup Panko Bread Crumbs                    ¼ Medium White Sweet Onion

½ Cup Seasoned Bread Crumbs               1 Egg 
Update:  I now add a clove of garlic, minced (Yum!)        

                                      

Soup

2 Tbsp Margarine or Butter                     2 Packages Baby Bella Mushrooms

¾ Medium Sweet Onion                         1 Tbsp Parsely

½ Cup Marsala Cooking Wine                  1 ½ Cartons Unsalted Chicken Stock

1 ½ Cartons Water                                               

½ Lb Medium or Broad Egg Noodles

Preheat oven to 400*.  Finely dice ¼ of the onion, should be about ½ cup.  Mix the meatball ingredients and shape into small balls.  Mine were the size of a quarter and could have been smaller.  Bake for 20 minutes (less if your meatballs are smaller), rolling them over with 5 minutes remaining. 

Dice the remaining onion.  Saute the onion and mushrooms in margarine until the onions are translucent.  Add the marsala cooking wine or sherry.  Feel free to use the real thing here, but I’m a big fan of the cooking varieties.  Simmer for several minutes until the wine has cooked down some.  Add the chicken stock.  Use the empty carton to add equal parts of water.

Add the meatballs to the broth.  Bring to a healthy boil for at least 5 minutes to extract some flavors out of the meatballs.  Reduce to a medium boil and add the egg noodles.  Cook according to package instructions and then a few minutes longer.  They’re never soft enough to absorb the flavors when you follow the package!  Enjoy, and get ready for the leftovers, they’re the best part!

Green Chicken Soup

I tend to alter recipes.  Matter of fact, I have a REALLY hard time following them.  I take things out...I add things in.  If there's butter in there, stand back because I'm going to double it!  Someone special once told me that if I had my own cooking show it should be called "Adda Sticka Butta".  

This is not a family recipe, yet.  I created this soup from several others.  I picked the things about each that I loved and created a soup that has been a big hit with my guinea pigs at work (and loved by some of their young children as well)!

Ingredients

4-5 Chicken Leg Quarters or Small Whole Chicken

1 Medium Onion Diced

3 Large Potatoes Diced

3 Stalks Celery Diced

1 Cup Orzo Noodles

1 Carton Swanson Chicken Broth

3 Cubes Chicken Bouillon

4 Cups Mustard Greens Diced

4 Cups Turnip Greens Diced

½ Small Cabbage Diced

Garlic Pepper Salt (to taste)

Water

Cover chicken in water.  Sprinkle with Garlic Pepper Salt (or just salt and pepper) and boil for at least 1 hour or until tender and juices are clear when stuck with a fork (or in a Crock Pot on low for at least 6 hours).  Remove meat from the bone and tear into bite-size pieces.  Strain the broth for bones.  Return the meat to the broth.  Add the chicken stock and bouillon as needed for taste and liquid.

Add the onion, celery and cabbage.  Simmer until tender.  Add the potatoes, simmer for 15 minutes.  Add the greens and pasta.  Simmer until the greens are wilted and the pasta is tender…the longer the better!

Variation:  Any combination of greens will work – chard, spinach, escarole, or kale.  The cabbage is the best part!