Whole Poached Chicken & Homemade Stock

We had snow this past Saturday.  And I don't mean little flurries for five minutes, I mean a record-breaking 5.2 inches of accumulation, resulting in suspended train service, downed trees, and loss of power in some areas.  Yes, it is still October.  I slept under two sheets, a duvet cover, a coverlet, and a comforter with the heat on.  I was also wearing two shirts, pajama bottoms, and running socks.  It was cold.  Thank goodness I had this in my fridge to keep me warm.

It may not look like the most glamorous thing in the world, but this whole poached chicken in homemade stock is hands down the easiest and best comfort food I've ever had.  With less than 5 minutes of prep work and about 20 minutes of cooking, you can get an amazing broth that is out of this world and some of the moistest, velvetiest (apparently that is a word) chicken you've ever tasted.  And can I say again how easy this is?

I know I write a food blog, but here's a deep dark secret: until I made this, I'd never cooked a whole chicken before.  I know, it's a basic kitchen skill that most people who spend as much time as I do in the kitchen should have mastered a long time ago.  But I never did.  I had many excuses: I always worried about undercooking the chicken, I don't have a meat thermometer (I actually don't own any kitchen thermometers), I don't like white meat, so on.  But even with all these excuses, I knew I would had to get around to it someday.

I joke with my family and friends that every time I try a new recipe I am adding to my "dowry," as my future husband will benefit from whatever kitchen skills I've acquired over time.  It may sound a little strange, but sometimes I do work on building my recipe base with the thought that someday I will have to use my knowledge to feed someone else, someone who may not be as content as I am with eating poached eggs and arugula salads all the time.  Thus, I figure knowing how to cook an entire chicken is a fairly important skill.  (So is knowing how to properly cook a steak, but that's for another day.  [Though, for the record, I have made steak before and it was delicious, but steak is one of those things that, much as I love it, I can't justify making it for myself, and I'd much rather have someone else make it for me.])

People say roasting a chicken is easy but I find that the white meat when it is cooked that way gets to tiresome.  I can't make myself eat it.  And now that I'm cooking for one, I don't want to make something that I won't enjoy.  So instead of roasting, I found a recipe for poaching a chicken, which sounded so good I had to try it.  All the ingredients are fairly standard, and I was blown away by the simplicity of the recipe.

I spent no more than 30 minutes in the kitchen, then I turned off my stove, left my apartment, went to the lab for 4 hours, and came home to a perfectly cooked chicken.  I thought that kind of thing only happened in movies!  And this one pot recipe that gives you two amazing products at the end: some delicious chicken stock and a succulent poached chicken, which can be used in other dishes.  Think sandwiches, salad, risotto.... endless possibilities!

And best of all?  It really is the most moist and velvety meat I've ever tasted.  And the stock is amazing.  I wasn't too sold on it when I tasted it before dropping the chicken in, but the extra time at the end of the poaching makes all the difference.  Now I can't get enough of it.  It's delicious, comforting, and just the right thing for this season.  It's the perfect rainy day food.  And the perfect snowy day food.  It's also great if you're starting to feel sick or taking care of someone sick.  You know what?  It's great for any day.  The stock and the chicken make the perfect comfort food.  So if you're feeling a little down this week, here is what the doctor (okay, medical student) ordered.

"Fire and Ice" Cucumber and Cantaloupe Soup

With the weather getting warmer, it's hard to want to eat hot and heavy meals.

I doubt most people think of spring being a great season for soup, but this soup fits the season perfectly. This recipe was something that I believe I saw in the Washington Post a couple summers ago and quickly made my own.  It's comparable to a gazpacho, if you've ever had the cold Spanish soup, except that the base is not tomato.


This is an elegant and easy way to use up extra cucumber, which we always seem to have in the house, leftover from salads and sandwiches.  It also shows off cantaloupe beautifully.  The "fire and ice" soup gets a nice kick from some hot pepper, but that can be controlled by your own hand,  and the heat is a nice contrast to the mellow sweetness of both the melon and the cucumber.

This recipe is a great one to make if you're serving guests, since it can be made ahead of time, very quickly, and is served chilled.  As usual, I served this in our china tea cups.  Just a little quirk of mine.  Tea cups are a great vessel for serving soups.  Chocolate mousses too.  But that's for another day.

"Fire and Ice" Cucumber and Cantaloupe Soup
1 small cantaloupe (about 1 ½ lbs)
2 cups diced cucumber (about 1/3 the quantity of cantaloupe)
juice and zest from one lime
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp hot pepper (e.g. jalepeno)
½ tsp salt
4 tsp sugar
1 to 2 tsp honey (to taste)
¼ to ½ cup milk (to taste)

Slice the cantaloupe into wedges and remove the flesh from the skin.  Add with the skinned and diced cucumber into a blender.  Add the lime juice and zest (alternatively, you can use a lemon) along with a dash of cold milk.  Blend until relatively smooth.  Add the ground ginger, pepper, salt, and sugar.  Blend till smooth.  Add honey or milk to taste.

Serve cold with cream swirled in and cilantro for garnish (optional).

This yields a very generous portion, probably enough for 8 people as an appetizer.  I usually serve this to my family of four.  The leftovers keep just fine in the fridge for 1-2 days.  Just be sure to stir well before serving.

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup

I know I've called cold weather the perfect weather for risotto, but when it comes to January—cold dreary January, with its icy rainy, slushy grey snow, and frozen sidewalks—I think the thing everyone needs in their repertoire is a good soup.

A good soup should be complex in flavor. It should have layers. It can't just taste like soup or just taste like peas, and it can't just be spicy. It needs to have a little something extra so that the tongue doesn't tire of its taste after five or six spoonfuls. A good soup should be filling and most of all, I think a good soup needs to be something that can be shared.

So I share with you this: a spicy butternut squash soup that is rich, but not heavy; slightly sweet, but also spicy enough to warm a person on a January night.

This soup is vaguely related to a recipe I saw here, but really I think they are so different now, they are more like in-laws than blood relatives. This recipe, like all the recipes I post here, is easily adapted to your taste. You can use pumpkin just as easily as butternut squash, but keep in mind that pumpkins are much larger than your average squashes, and so you may need more coconut milk and broth (or water), and perhaps more spices. Also, if you can't find these specific curry powders, feel free to use what you have on hand; curry paste works just fine. I'd recommend starting with no more than 1 teaspoon, and then increasing from there depending on your own preferences.

As for serving the soup, you might have noticed by now that I have a thing for serving my soups in teacups. This is generally because when I make soup, it is part of a larger meal, and I think a teacup serving is the perfect size for an appetizer. But in a bowl or a teacup, it doesn't matter. This soup is elegant and delicious, and can be served with toasted pumpkin seeds, croutons, or caramelized pear slices. I chose to serve it with some Forelle pear slices which I lightly caramelized in a skillet with some salted butter. This soup can also stand alone. Maybe warm up some good bread though, to wipe your bowl clean when you're done, if you're that sort of person. And yes, I do confess, I am that sort of person.

Spicy Butternut Squash Soup

1 medium butternut squash
1-2 tablespoons butter
about 1 can chicken stock
about 1 can of coconut milk
1 ½ tsp Madras Curry Powder (yellow)
¾ tsp curry powder mix (Vietnamese “bôt ca ri” made from turmeric, annatto, chili, coriander seed, cloves, fennel, and bay leaf)
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
2-3 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt

Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Slice the butternut squash into 3 or 4 sections (leave the skin on!), place on the baking sheet, and butter each slice. Broil on low for about 10-15 minutes before flipping the slices. Butter this side, and then broil for another 10-15 minutes until soft. Alternatively, bake the squash at 375 F for about 35-40 minutes.

Allow the squash to cool for a bit before scooping the flesh into a large pot on medium heat. Add 1 can (about 14 ounces) of coconut milk and 1 can of chicken stock (or alternatively, water or vegetable stock... no worries, I have made this with water and the flavor profile was not at all diminished). Bring to a simmer.

Add the curry powders/paste, cinnamon, ginger, sugar, and salt.

Remove the soup from the heat and either puree with an immersion blender or transfer in batches into a blender. If using a blender, allow the soup to cool a bit, and then cover the top of the blender with a clean kitchen towel, and blend in small batches. Remember to use care when blending hot soups!

Transfer the now smooth soup back to the pot (if you used a blender), turn the heat to medium, and add water or stock a little bit at a time until the soup is your desired consistency. Add additional seasoning to taste.

Serves 6-8 people.