Chicken Pot Pie Soup

Someone once said, "Chicken soup is good for the soul.", and I have to say, that I agree. Chicken soup is warm, comforting, and full of "Make you feel better about anything" goodness. It's one of the very first things I think about when fall arrives and the weather cools and noses start to get stuffed up. I'm pretty sure chicken soup is sort of magical.

We needed some magic last night, for sure. We had a rough start that morning and it really just set a bad tone for the day. I had, thankfully, made some chicken stock overnight in our crock pot and had some leftover chicken from the previous night's dinner. It was as if the universe had perfectly aligned... I knew what I had to do! It was definitely a "Chicken Soup" night! And not just any chicken soup, oh no! It was a "Chicken Pot Pie Soup" sort of night.

Here is my method:

2-3 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite sized chunks
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup flour
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 carrots, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
2-3 ribs of celery, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1 cup peas
5 cups of chicken stock
1 cup whole milk
1 cup cream
1 tsp salt
1 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp black pepper

Over med-high heat, melt your butter and toss in the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery and saute until the onion begins to turn translucent. Add in the flour and continue to stir and cook for 1-2 minutes. It's going to seize up and that is okay. Just don't let it burn! Add in the chicken stock and stir until it starts to thicken and bubble. Toss in the peas, bay leaf and thyme, reduce the heat to med-low and simmer, covered for 15 minutes. Stir in the milk and cream and add the salt and pepper. Allow it to heat through and serve with hot out of the oven biscuits.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Fall is most definitely on it's way to North Texas. I have finally managed to turn the air off and open a window, which is HUGE, because this summer was more than a little warm. But, it is finally fall and that means loads of pumpkin-ish goodies fly out of my kitchen!

These muffins are the result of an informal challenge from a friend. She posted a status about a certain coffee chain's pumpkin muffins with the tag line of, "I bet Shannon can make these.". Challenge accepted. Unfortunately, I have never actually eaten this chain's version, so I had to trek out to go get one. It was yummy... A little sweet, but good. Dense, spicy notes of cinnamon and cloves and a delectable cream cheese core.

I felt up to the challenge after 1 bite and the resulting muffins were close, but infinitely better, in my opinion. I usually reach for the brown sugar, when making anything with pumpkin. I just think it offers a deeper flavor profile. But, these muffins needed more depth, so I opted for white sugar with a boost of molasses, which is all brown sugar really is... No, really, it is. I amped up the spices and added ginger, which I felt was missing from the chain's version. What I produced was a very moist, spiced pumpkin muffin with a slightly sweet cream cheese core. Not a thing wrong it that! Only thing missing were the scattering of pumpkin seeds on top.

Here is my method:

Makes 24Cream Cheese Filling:

1 8oz brick of cream cheese

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

Muffins:3 cups flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs

1 15oz can pumpkin puree

1.5 cups sugar

1 cup oil

1 tbs molasses 

With a handheld mixer, blend the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla together. Scoop into a piping bag with a round tip and chuck in the fridge to firm up. 

Mix all your dry ingredients together and set aside. In a mixer, beat together pumpkin, eggs, sugar, mollasses, and oil and then mix in the dry ingredients until just combined. Divy the batter between 24 lined muffin cups. Now, here's the fun part! Go get the cream cheese mixture and pipe some into the center of each muffin. Put the tip a little lower than half way down the middle and squeezw until it just a wee bit peeks out. It expands like crazy during baking. 

Bake at 350 for about 18-20 minutes. Allow to rest a few minutes before removing them to a cooling rack.