It's the time of the Season for Chicken Soup

This is a slow day recipe.  The best part is fiddling with the broth, skimming slowly and ensuring a clear broth.  I end up using about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of salt and 1 Tablespoon of ground pepper for the entire pot.  Some Garlic powder and onion powder are also good additions.  But the entire soup is the vegetable broth.  DO NOT SKIP THE PARSNIPS!

                      Chicken Soup for what ails you

  1              pound  carrots -- cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces (I cube them)
  1              pound  parsnips -- cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces (again, cube them)
  1             large  onion -- cut into 1/2-inch dice (1 to 2) (1 pound)
  1            4 pound  chicken -- rinsed
                        Coarse salt and pepper                        
  2                  c  egg noodles -- optional

  1.  In a large pot, combine carrots, parsnips, onion, and chicken, breast-side down. Add enough water just to cover (about 12 cups). Season with salt. Place over high heat, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, and cook, partially covered, until chicken is cooked through, about 60 minutes. Skim any foam that rises to the top and discard. Never cover but do turn the chicken over after about 30 minutes.
 
  2.  Remove chicken from pot, and set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove meat from bones; discarding skin and bones. Tear meat into bite-size pieces, and return to pot. Cook until heated through. Taste, and adjust for seasoning

 3.  Cook noodles separately.  Add to bowl and cover with hot chicken, broth and vegetables

the bonus is that with a light meal you can have a great dessert

                            Bourbon Pecan Pie

  1        cup  sugar
  3        tablespoons  butter -- melted
  1/2     cup  corn syrup
  3        large  eggs -- beaten
  1 1/2  cups  pecan halves (enough to cover the bottom of the pie shell)
  2        tablespoons  bourbon
  1        teaspoon vanilla
  1        pie shell -- (9-inch) unbaked

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, melted butter, corn syrup, eggs,bourbon and vanilla, and stir until all ingredients are combined.  Place the nuts in the unbaked pie shell. Pour mixture into an unbaked pie shell, and place on a heavy-duty cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 375. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and continue to bake for an additional 25 minutes, or until pie is set. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

2 pounds of Sirloin, more than two meals

This is a one meat-two+ meals thing.  The sirloin in the marinade grills up beautifully but keep it on the rare side since leftovers are going to become Savory Sirloin with Peppers and Onions. 

 Grilled Sirloin in Kentucky Bourbon Marinade

1 cup  beef stock
1/3 cup  bourbon
1/8 cup  soy sauce
3 cloves  garlic -- minced
3 green onions -- sliced (these are totally optional and I've often used chives because they grow in my garden
                        fresh ground pepper
2 pounds  sirloin steak, trimmed and tenderized

Combine the stock, bourbon, soy sauce, garlic, onions and pepper in a bowl. 
Pour over steak and allow to marinate 4 hours, refrigerated.  Turn after two hours.
Grill over medium, medium low heat until rare.

Save half the steak for Savory Sirloin.

This is NOT a chinese pepper steak.  It really pops with some chopped pickled banana peppers on it but since we really like things that are vinegary that may be personal.  I did envision it as an open-faced sandwich and provolone melted over it.  Maybe Italian beef?

Savory Sirloin Beef with onions and peppers

 Leftover Grilled Sirloin in Kentucky Bourbon Marinade -- (1/2 recipe) sliced thinly against the grain
3 medium  onion -- sliced
1 Large  red bell pepper
4 tablespoons  butter
1/8 teaspoon  garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon  onion powder
                        salt and pepper
2 tablespoons  Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon  Tabasco sauce

Start 2 T. butter in a hot skillet.  Add the sliced onions and salt.  Caramelize slowly over low heat.
Add the sliced peppers, raising the heat.  Cook until tender and colored on the edges.
Add the sliced steak, seasonings, Worcestershire and Tabasco and the remaining butter.  Lower heat to warm without cooking.
Serve over toast, noodles, rice, potato, whatever you fancy.

Now the cost - I got the sirloin at about $3.50 per pound because I bought an entire sirloin and had it cut into 1 pound pieces, about 1 1/2" thick.  The thicker cut makes it more versatile.  Slice it raw and it becomes strogonoff or pepper steak.  Whole it grills, braises or sautes.  And there are a lot of steaks in a whole sirloin.  Red bell peppers were $1.50 this week and are a nutritional powerhouse, onions are about $2 per pound and I used 1/2 pound.  Bourbon is always around the house, as is butter, and it didn't take that much.  Beef broth was a little beef base dissolved in warm water.  Garlic, pennies.   So for less than $10 dollars I got two meals for two and leftovers of the Savory Sirloin to make a casserole with rice (also a leftover in the fridge) for lunch for two.
 
You should see what I can do with a chicken!