It’s 50-degrees, pouring rain, and blowing a gale in Fairfield. As I sit and type, I keep thinking I’m hearing a the whir of a machine revving up outside, only to realize that the sound is the wind screaming through the trees. Do days like this accommodate anything other than soup? You’d have a hard time convincing me otherwise.

A stronghold of my childhood is my Grandma Leonard’s chicken noodle soup. A two day affair to make, we all have the fondest memories of sitting at her kitchen table as she carefully prepared us a bowl, melting the gelatinous broth on the stove before ladling it into a bowl of already cooked egg noodles. In college I was sick with the flu and needed that soup. I called my Grandma for the recipe, who gave me the steps over the phone. With a full blown fever, I went to the grocery to get everything I needed so that I could make it for the next day.

This is not that soup. I’m sorry. I never wrote the recipe down and have been sworn to secrecy. But you know what, so much of the magic in my grandma’s soup is the love that it comes with. Making chicken soup from scratch - even a quick one like this - takes heart. I think this recipe is the next best thing: a flavorful, comforting, classic chicken soup that can be made in a few hours rather than days. I served it to my girls with egg noodles and freshly baked bread with softened butter. I couldn’t help but beam as they slurped it up while the wind howled outside.

I used leftover rotisserie chicken we had in the fridge plus some extra legs and thighs to make the stock. I think making stock from chicken and veggie scraps is a great way to increase the sustainability of our meals, so there’s almost always a pot of chicken or vegetable stock simmering on the stove!

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Rainy Day Chicken Noodle Soup

1 whole rotisserie chicken
1 small pack of raw chicken thighs or quarters
2 yellow onions
4 carrots
1 celery heart with greens + 3 ribs
2 bay leaves
3 springs of fresh rosemary
3 springs of fresh thyme
4-6 black peppercorns
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, smashed
1/2 tsp salt
Frozen peas and/or corn
Cooked egg noodles (or other soup noodle)
salt and pepper

1. Place the rotisserie chicken and raw pieces in a large dutch oven with 1 onion cut in half lengthwise, 1-2 carrots, celery heart, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Fill the pot with water until the chicken is just covered. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.

2. After 2-3 hours, when the chicken is falling apart, the vegetables are breaking down, and the broth is rich in color, remove it from the heat and pour the contents into a large colander set atop a bowl big enough to hold all the broth, separating the broth from the contents. Set aside to cool a bit.

3. Dice the remaining onion and celery, and cut remaining the carrots into 1/4” thick semi-circles (you want them thick so they don’t get mushy).

4. Heat olive oil in the (now empty) dutch oven over medium heat. Add the vegetables and garlic. Sauté until the vegetables are fragrant and sweating. Pour in the chicken stock, adding the bay leaves and peppercorns back into the pot.

5. Pick through the colander to pull out the chicken meat and add it to the pot, along with herb sprigs. Simmer for another hour (at least). Add salt and pepper to taste.

7. Place some noodles and frozen peas (and/or corn) in the bottom of a bowl and ladle the soup over them. Serve with crusty bread and soft butter.

When people started talking about physical distancing and avoiding public places, the world went to the grocery. My first trip wasn’t even to “stock up” - I just needed a few things to get us through the weekend and was planning to go the following Monday. But, when I witnessed the scene in the aisles of our local Stop & Shop, my tune changed a bit. Not because I was worried about a food shortage, but because the way people were hoarding items meant that random aisles were suddenly empty (I’m looking at you, unfettered masses who suddenly love cooking with beans and baking bread).

So, I grabbed two bags of frozen shrimp. I always keep shrimp in my freezer because it defrosts quickly and is essentially the same as whatever you’re buying in the case at a big grocery store. The list of shrimp recipes you can pull together from pretty standard and readily available items in your kitchen is nearly endless. It’s not a Forrest Gump meme for nothing.

So, during week one of quarantine when we were still all walking around our homes in a haze wondering how the pieces were going to fall into place, I found myself at 5:30 p.m. with my laptop still open, a pile of laundry on the sofa, and a hungry family. I’ve never been more relieved to have 4lbs of shrimp in my freezer. I grabbed a lemon and some parsley, and ten minutes later dinner was on the table.

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Quick Shrimp Piccata

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
15-20 large shrimp
1 lemon, juiced + 1 tsp of zest
2 tbsp capers
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
salt & pepper to taste
grated Parmesan cheese

1. In a large sauté pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil and butter with the garlic until the garlic begins to sputter and the oil around it begins to bubble.

2. Once the garlic is aromatic (before it browns), stir in the shrimp (keep the shells on). Sauté until the shrimp just begins to turn pink. Add the lemon juice and zest, stir, and cover for 5 minutes to finish cooking the shrimp.

3. Remove from heat and stir in the parsley. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve over rice or pearl couscous, top with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

I’ve gotten every. single. germy. bug that has come into our home this season. Between lingering illness and irritatingly chilly weather I have been doubling down on sauces and soups. Because, you know, when it’s a little damp, too warm for snow, but too cold to want to go outside and play, something bubbly on the stove makes everything feel a little warmer.

Spicy, warm, and filling, this tortilla soup is guaranteed to take the chill off. Give it more or less heat by moderating how much jalapeño you use. I also think this soup would be great if you swapped in rice for the tortillas. Bonus: Most of the soups I make are a snap. One pot, big flavor, low maintenance.

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Tortilla Soup

2 tbsp coconut oil
6 green onions, chopped and separated into whites and greens
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 jalapeños*, seeds removed and finely chopped
2 tsp chile powder
1.5 tsp ancho chile powder
28 oz can of canned peeled tomatoes
1/2 cup dry white wine or pale beer (like Modelo or Corona)
4 cups chicken broth
1 boneless skinless chicken breast
1 cup sweet corn
1/2 diced sweet potato, uncooked
1-2 cups vegetable oil
2-3 flour or corn tortillas, cut into strips
Salt & Pepper to taste
Crumbled Cojita Cheese
Chopped Cilantro
Lime Slices
Fried Tortilla Strips

1. In a heavy dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the green onion whites, garlic and jalapeños* until the onions and peppers begin to soften. Add chile powders and sauté until fragrant.

2. Reduce the heat to medium and add the tomatoes to the pot. Stir only occasionally, letting them caramelize.

3. Deglaze the pot with the wine or beer, scraping any bits off the bottom of the pot. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.

4. Reduce to a low simmer and add the chicken breast. Place a lid on the pot and let it cook until the chicken is fully cooked and tender. Remove the chicken and shred with two forks.

5. Place the shredded chicken back into the pot along with the corn and sweet potatoes, and simmer until the sweet potatoes are soft. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile…

In a cast iron skillet, add 1-2 cups of vegetable oil. Heat until the oil is shimmering and a drop of water spits when introduced to the pan. Add the tortillas and fry until lightly browned. Remove to a paper towel to drain the oil, salt lightly.

OR

Brush tortillas with vegetable oil and bake at 375* until browned.

Put it all together.

Spoon soup into a bowl and top with crumbled cojita cheese, lime, cilantro, chopped onion greens, and fried tortilla.

*You can moderate the spice by reducing or removing the peppers.

The original recipe came from Alison Roman and NY Times Cooking.