It’s been absurdly frigid the past couple days and I wanted something HOT to eat. I poked through the freezer and found a container of Chicken Chili Soup that I made a while back. (No, really, it’s not the same batch I made a year ago!)
Defrosted and reheated it – pretty darn good! Thicker than the original, and the beans were a little mushy, but it did hit the spot on a cold day. The spices did mellow out a little, but it was still good. It’s always good to know that something does defrost and reheat well.
Continuing the theme of “good food in the cold” I have a pot of beans soaking and tomorrow I’ll be attempting ham & bean soup.
Now, there are a million variations on it, and it was a favorite when we were kids. My Mom never wrote down her recipe and I never paid terribly close attention to exactly how she made it. And I am terrified of screwing it up.
I don’t know why, but it seems that trying to recreate the great comfort foods that my Mom cooked is more intimidating than doing some crazy elaborate recipe I’ve never tried before.
I’ve got some carrots, onion, and celery to toss in it, and smoked ham hocks. Normally Mom always just used a lefotver ham bone, but I don’t have one of those, and I was lucky to even get the ham hocks – they were the last package in the store. I think the smoked aspect of it will make it a little interesting. I’ve also got a big ham steak to shred up and toss in as well.
Keep your fingers crossed!!