My husband’s “therapy” is cooking.  David has alot of emotional “disorders” – like many other folks do – and cooking is totally therapeutic for him.  He also has OCD, so his cooking becomes a very long and drawn out affair most times!

Hubby was off work this weekend, and after church on Sunday he decided he was going to “clean out the fridge” and make some soup – it was a very cold and rainy day here in eastern North Carolina – a perfect day for homemade soup!

Using the vintage cookware that we recently purchased from ebay and Etsy, a pattern that was inspired by a small dutch oven we found in my mother’s refrigerator when she passed away this summer, {meatloaf still in it, she loved her meatloaf} he proceeded to make the BEST homemade soup I have ever eaten – and he has concocted a TON of great dishes!

Getting down to business here….I’m sharing his recipe with you – I hope that you enjoy it as much as we did! 

Here’s the ingredients you’ll need….

• 1 stick of butter, divided in half
• 1 to 1¼ pound of boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
• ¼ tsp coarsely ground sea salt
• ¼ tsp coarsely ground pepper (preferably a blend)
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp dried thyme, divided
• 4 to 6 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1 small sweet pepper (red, yellow, or orange) [may substitute ½ of a full size one]
• 1-2 tbsp of flour
• 4 cups of chicken bone broth
• 4 small potatoes, diced
• 3 carrots, diced small
• 1 cup of water

Then do this….

In a large skillet, add half of the butter and melt over medium-high heat. Place chicken in the skillet and stir until well coated.  Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and thyme.  Cook chicken until light golden brown, stirring frequently.  Remove skillet from heat and set aside.

In a medium stock pot (at least 5 quarts), add remaining butter and melt over medium-high heat. Add bacon, onion, garlic, celery, and sweet pepper.  Sauté until tender, stirring occasionally.  Sprinkle flour evenly over sautéed vegetables and stir until well blended.  Pour in about half of the bone broth and stir well, making sure the flour is mixed with broth evenly; then pour in the rest of the bone broth.  Add the chicken, potatoes and carrots and stir well.  Let soup boil on high for about 10 minutes or so, stirring frequently.

Reduce heat to medium-low and cover.  Let simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour (time will depend on how small the potatoes and carrots are diced), stir occasionally to prevent sticking (NOTE:  add the cup of water if needed, and add salt and pepper to taste).

When soup is done, stir in ½ to 1 cup of half ‘n half (depends on how creamy you want the soup to be).

And there you have it….the BEST soup ever!  Please let me know how much you LOVE it!

Until next time…

Blessings ~

Heather