Great Comfort Food, RECIPE: Cheesy Chicken Chowder

This soup says comfort food in capital letters! Nothing fancy, just simply delicious! I got it out of the newspaper. It came in one of those little inserts that is like a little magazine, AmericanProfile. The recipe was submitted by Marsha Baker of Pioneer, Ohio. Let's all give Marsha a round of applause for this tasty treat.


Cheesy Chicken Chowder

2 (14 oz) cans of reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 cups diced, peeled potatoes
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
2 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken

Note: I used my homemade chicken broth using one of my hand-raised and lavishly loved chickens, remember the post One Chicken; Three Meals? Hint, hint, if you buy my chickens, you can make your own broth and it will be much healthier for you and taste so much better! This paid (well, unpaid) advertising was brought to you by Open A Bar 2 Ranch Farm Fresh Pastured Poultry!

1. Bring chicken broth to a boil in a large saucepan. Reduce heat. Add potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.
2. Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add flour and mix well. Gradually stir in milk and cook over low heat until slightly thickened. Stir in cheese and cook until melted. Add cheese mixture to broth and vegetables along with the chicken. Cook and stir over low heat until thoroughly heated.

I served it with Jalapeno Cheddar bread that I had bought from the bread man this past summer at the Farmers Market. I froze some so that we would have his bread through the winter. Those of you who frequent the Farmers Market in Scottsbluff during the summer know who I am talking about when I refer to "the bread man." He has the best bread! I need to figure out this recipe for the Jalapeno Cheddar bread. I'll let you know if I make any progress so that we can all make it! Watch out Mr. Bread Man, here I come! Run, run as fast as you can because I will figure out your recipes and share with all. Ha, ha, ha, in an evil laugh.

Whoa, where did that come from? Guess I'd better stop before I lose all of you.

Oh, if you want to be on my chicken mailing list so you can pre-order chickens for this coming summer, slip me a note with your address. I will be sending out the order forms soon. Those who don't pre-order are always so sad when I have to tell them that I am sold out for the year.