What to do with leftover roast chicken?

Make soup! 

Specifically you should make this soup, Black Bean and Ancho Chile Soup with Roasted Chicken, Cilantro, and Lime. From the book Bird in the Oven by Mindy Fox. It has become one of my all-time favorite cookbooks. Can't rave enough about it, we've loved every recipe I've tried from this book. I got pretty ambitious with this one, ambitious for me anyway. Made the stock from scratch from a roasted chicken the night before. Usually I'd use a boxed stock and save homemade strictly for matzoh ball soup. And usually from raw pullets. I never thought to use the carcass from the roast chicken before, it made a great stock. I got almost a quart from one roast chicken. And the leftover meat wasn't all mushed up from being boiled for hours. This was excellent.

I left out the cilantro completely, my kids think it tastes like soap. What do they know? They never had their mouths washed with soap. But I did once when I was small. So who knows, I just may be used to that taste. I pretty quickly learned never to repeat things my older brother said to say to mom! We laugh about that now but it was hard to explain to her at the time that it's his fault with my mouth full of bubbles :)  What we put our poor mother through back in those days!

Since it was somewhat spur of the moment, the black bean soup part, I used canned beans. The chicken stock was planned, I decided last minute that I would turn into the black bean soup, so I had to use what was on hand, and I had ancho chili powder instead of whole dried chilies. Didn't matter, the soup was outstanding. I wouldn't change a thing the next time I make it. The chicken stock was perfect, great flavor and it cooled to be like jiggly jello, just like the golden goodness my grandma used to make. The roasting gave it a deep delicious flavor. I'll never throw away the roast chicken bones again!

Rich Roasted Chicken Stock

Chorizo and Black Bean Soup

Black Bean and Ancho Chile Soup with Roasted Chicken, Chorizo and Lime

Black Bean and Ancho Chile Soup with Roasted Chicken, Chorizo and Lime  

Original Source: From the book Bird in the Oven by Mindy Fox

adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook

Printable Recipe

3 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed well

4 cups chicken stock

4 cups water

1 whole white or yellow onion, chopped

2 tablespoons ancho chile powder

1 tablespoon guajillo chile powder, or use any chiles you like

4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

1 teaspoon Mexican oregano

salt and pepper, to taste

1 1/2 cups roast chicken, shredded

4 ounces fully cooked chorizo, sliced into coins (I used Aidells chorizo, 2 links)

1-2 teaspoons olive oil

2 limes, sliced in wedges

2 ripe avocado's, pitted and cubed

scallions, chopped

sour cream

diced tomatoes or salsa

In a heavy soup pot, combine half of the chorizo, 2 cans of the beans, chile powders, onion, garlic, oregano, chicken stock and water. Bring to a simmer and cook, covered, for about an hour.

Remove from heat and very carefully, using an immersion blender, whiz the soup to a puree. You can use a blender but it's very hot, so be very careful.  Return the soup to the heat and add the last can of beans and the shredded chicken, simmer on medium-low for another 15-20 minutes. 

While the soup is simmering, cook the remaining chorizo in a non-stick skillet with a little olive oil over medium-high heat until they start to get a little browned. Remove and save for garnish.

Ladle soup in bowls, squeeze in some fresh lime juice and garnish with chorizo, diced avocado, sour cream, chopped tomatoes, scallions, or whatever garnishes you like.

Rich Roast Chicken Stock

Original Source: From the book Bird in the Oven by Mindy Fox

adapted by There's Always Thyme to Cook

Printable Recipe

1 roast chicken carcass, plus the neck, leftover meat saved separately

1 onion, with skin, quartered

2 shallots, with skin, cut in half

5 garlic cloves, with peel, smashed

3 carrots, washed and peeled, cut lengthwise in half

2 parsnips, washed and peeled, cut lengthwise in half

1 small turnip, washed, peeled and quartered

2 stalks celery, plus tops, washed and cut lengthwise in half

2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns

handful of fresh parsley, dill or any other fresh herbs you like 

salt, to taste

Add all of the ingredients to a large stockpot and add cold water to cover by several inches. Over medium-high heat bring the water to just a boil, then lower heat to medium-low and simmer for 3-6 hours, uncovered for a very rich broth. Simmer for 2-3 hours for a lighter broth. Taste for seasoning, salt to taste.

Remove from heat, strain the soup into a container, discard the solids and let the stock cool. Refrigerate and skim fat from the cooled stock. You can freeze the stock.

Joining 

 Beth at Beth Fish Reads for her fun Weekend Cooking Party. Every weekend. It's open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share! Go on over and see some fun posts.
 

Souper Sundays (soups, salads and sandwiches) @ Kahakai Kitchen

with the

 Souper Sunday weekly round-up of recipes

 

 Mosaic Monday  at the Little Red House

and Cookbook Sundays at Couscous & Consciousness

AND

 Food on Friday at Carole's Chatter

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