From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...It was bone-chilling cold today and the sun chose to hibernate rather than to fight back the clouds. It was not a day to inspire greatness. I thought I'd write some and finish packing away the last of the Christmas ornaments. As it worked out, I did neither, and I was left staring at a metaphoric empty page and looking at fire-red poinsettias that seemed glaringly bright and tasteless now that the holiday was over. While I was at it, I chucked my dinner plans and came very close to opening a can of soup for supper. I caught myself in the nick of time, though I couldn't shake the thought of soup by the fire on such a bone-chilling day. After checking what I had on hand, I decided to play with a recipe for Chicken and Barley soup that I had originally seen on the Panera website. You can see their version of the soup, which is made in a slow cooker, here. I had to do some ingredient substitution, so while I ran with their idea, I pulled out my stockpot and made the soup the old-fashioned way. I used what my butcher calls "scrap chicken" for my soup. While inelegant, I've found it to be great for making chicken soup or broth. The scraps are packed in 2-1/2 to 3 pound packages that both contain chicken trimmings and fat. I render the fat, a trick learned in my childhood, and use it to saute the barley, as well as the chicken and vegetables, that make up the base of the soup. Once everything has been sauteed, I add the wine and stock and let the pot simmer for about an hour, or until the barley is tender. I use one pan from start to finish and I must admit I was really pleased with the depth of flavor the soup developed in such a short period of time. If you can't find packaged chicken scraps, use the same weight of boneless chicken thighs and saute them in a combination of oil and butter. I really think you'll like this soup. Here is how it's made.
