Got Lost in the Game

On sweltering heat days your first thought may not be to make a vat or boiling hot soup, but there is gain in getting your entire meal from one pot (equals one burner) and also something about eating a hot bowl of something and then allowing your body to cool down.  

A hearty 

Chicken Vegetable Soup 

It's important to start soup with a healthy base of carrots, celery, onions, lots of garlic and black pepper & salt.  I cooked that down in the chicken fat, which adds a little bonus flavor.  First browning the chicken and rendering the fat before pulling off the skin and setting aside.

Then I added green peppers and mushrooms.

After the main vegetables are slightly softened down and your trinity is melded, I add chicken stock and about a cup of hot sauce along with cubed potatoes and finally the chicken back to the broth. (Admission of guilt:  Ideally, if using hot sauce, your herb should be cilantro, culantro or parsley but I screwed up and used dill.  But that leads me to say that this could have been a very clean broth with the omission of the hot sauce, and an addition of dill and a splash of vinegar.  Both beautiful soups!)

When it's been cooking for a while, I added cabbage and corn.  Turn the heat down and simmer to your desired consistency.  I like waiting until the chicken falls off the bone and the potatoes make the soup a bit starchy.  As good as this soup is, it's 100 percent better the next day.  This type of chicken soup reminds me of the Irish stews where the potatoes and vegetables are very soft.