It's a soup, derived from a Middle Eastern recipe.
It's the cinnamon sticks that make all the difference. A completely different flavor profile than you may be used to. Today I used my largest pot and have put the soup into a whole lot of containers that are in the fridge right now, will get labelled and frozen tomorrow. So now I have a about thirty portions of this soup for future use. Tomorrow I'll have it again, and then probably make a chicken curry on Friday. And I'll be freezing up portions of that, also.
When I was working the kitchen in the homeless shelter I learned the value of labelling everything I freeze. Very helpful. I actually just threw away something I'd cooked in March of last year, and never got around to finishing. Maybe it still would have been okay, but I'd rather throw out.
Because I live alone, and because I have a small appetite, and because I really love my own cooking, I am actually spending less on food these days than ever before. Lucky me.
Anyway, the recipe.
Chicken of Muchness
3 large chicken leg quarters
Lots of carrots. Lots. It’s cheaper if you buy the loose ones, rather than the already packaged ones. But I’d say you need a pound or so
2 cans of diced or crushed tomatoes. Maybe one of each. I had a large can of crushed tomatoes, and a small one of diced.
1 medium onion, maybe two. I happen to like a lot of onion.
Olive oil
Several chicken bouillon cubes. I used three.
3 bay leaves
4 cinnamon sticks
At least ¾ tsp each of celery salt, marjoram, thyme, basil, and tarragon, ground black pepper
3 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons flour
additional chicken broth or stock.
Start by putting the leg quarters in your largest pot, cover with water, then dump in about a half cup of salt. Give it a half hour or so, then drain and rinse. This is a version of brining, and I’ve been doing it for decades. It’s one of the very few things my mother-in-law passed on to me. Clearly, you can skip this step.
Now bring the chicken to a boil with just enough water to cover. Turn heat down to simmer and skim off scum and fat that comes to the surface. This will take ten to fifteen minutes. Maybe longer, if the chicken is like that. I do think the earlier brining helps reduce this part.
Once skimming is done, put the bay leaves, peeled carrots, and cinnamon sticks in pot with chicken, bouillon cubes, cover and let simmer for an hour.
Remove carrots and chicken. Let them cool while you sauté the sliced onion in a little olive oil. You want them to get a little brown. Put in soup pot. Add the tomatoes.
Make a roux with the butter and flour in that same pan, then add a cup or two of broth. Stir and let it thicken over the heat until it seems thick enough. Pour into pot.
Cut up the carrots, strip the chicken from the bones and return to soup pot. Now add the other seasonings. You will probably need to add more chicken broth to have the right amount of liquid.
Cover and simmer for an hour or so.
Originally I used to include green pepper, but eventually realized that it didn't really freeze well, and for me the whole point of this is to freeze up lots of portions.
If you want, separately make rice towards the end of the cooking time, put some in a bowl, then add to the soup.
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