Buffalo Chicken Soup

I roast a whole chicken just about every week. I buy the biggest birds I can find and do my best to get two or three or more meals out of the meat. And I always use the carcass to make bone broth. The broth is probably my favorite part of the whole deal, it is so satisfying. And it makes my house smell amazing.

Lately chicken isn't the only thing that has appeared on my menu every week. I have unintentionally created a pattern - pasta on Monday (often large batch with leftovers appearing as lunch through the week), roast chicken on Tuesday, soup on Wednesday, new recipe/experiment on Thursday, pizza on Friday. Sunday we always have brunch after church and leftovers or something super lazy easy for supper. Something Mexican (with beans) or Indian (with lentils) usually appears on Thursday and/or Saturday. I don't always stick to this plan. In fact, it isn't really a "plan" at all, just a pattern I noticed when looking through past menus. But it seems to work well, so I guess I'll let it stay.

I have been craving something "Buffalo" since the Super Bowl and decided to use some leftover chicken (and broth, of course) to try for those flavors in our Wednesday soup. Google gave me lots of inspiration, but I was hungry for a specific sort of flavor combination and I didn't find anything that fit. This post for Buffalo Chicken Corn Chowder with Blue Cheese Gougeres was close, and too pretty too ignore. I had never heard of gougeres (French cheese puffs) and had all the ingredients on hand, so those became our side dish. They will be made again.

The soup as I made it was amazing, but as I was eating it I decided I would tweak a few things next time (and there will be a next time. oh yes.), including leaving out a can of diced tomatoes. They were a bit distracting, and made it feel a bit more like chili than I was hoping. This recipe includes those as yet untested modifications, and all measurements (as usual with my own recipes) are guestimations.

 

last-minute photo from my Hoosier Husband

Bean's Buffalo Chicken Soup

1 onion, diced
2 c. diced celery (~5 stalks)
2 c. diced sweet potato (~1 large)
3 c. cooked, shredded chicken
2 c. cooked black beans (~one can)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/3 c. Frank's or other hot sauce
2 c. chicken broth
1 block cream cheese, softened & diced

-Saute onion in a few tablespoons of bacon fat (or butter) until soft and beginning to brown.
-Add celery & sweet potato, saute until just beginning to soften.
-Add chicken, beans, paprika, Frank's, S&P. Toss to coat.
-Add broth. Simmer until potatoes are soft.
-Slowly stir in cream cheese, heat until warm.
-Top with blue cheese crumbles (or cheddar) & eat!