Chicken soup with "Bits"

Unidentified left overs hiding under cling film

If you are anything like me, you probably have several items that look like this wrapped in cling film, lurking somewhere in the back off the fridge. Probably left over from the festivities, or just leftover from last night's dinner. Either way, these remains will be the basis for a wonderful stock to warm your cockles, or any other body part that needs some attention.
You can make soup from just about anything, but it will never amount to much unless you start with a good stock.

The good bits

Stealing from our chickens

Add the bones and jelly to a stock pot, together with the trimmings from the veggies you intend to use to add additional flavor to the stock, and in this case, bring to the boil and then simmer while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. The chicken was roasted with Thyme and Rosemary, which will also add a dimension to the stock.

Eye of toad, toe of frog

 As my wife likes soup with "bits in," being the dutiful husband that I am, I cut the veggies into batons, before dicing them into the required "bits."

 I then sauté the onions, carrots, celery and any other hard root veggies I find with a knob of butter (what else).
Once you have done this, you can add the rest of the softer veggies, together with the chicken scraps you have saved from the roast. Add the strained stock from the stock pot, Bring back to the boil and then simmer until all of the veggies are  just done, about 20 minutes.
Of course, you can add any ingredients to this recipe. Some of my favorite adds are white navy beans, squash and kale.

Chicken soup with "Bits."

While I'm in the kitchen, I like to take care of some other prep that will help during the week, such as boiling these beets with their skin on.

When done, the skin just peels off  by pushing it with your fingers. If you don't want stained hands, use rubber gloves. This batch made a jar of pickled beet that I will enjoy with sliced Ham, and also a base for a nice salad to go with our soup. I also soaked some white navy beans for something tomorrow.

Who knows.........