Cheesy Chicken Soup

 These cooler days are getting me thinking of soups for the chill. One of the family favorites is this Cheesy Chicken Soup. The history of this recipe comes from the old cafeteria at Bishop Clarkson where Brenda and I went to school for nursing. The cafeteria was full of cooks and chefs that actually made most of the food on the premises and offered staff a discount. Those days are long gone.  I always liked the soup and honestly have no idea if this anything like it but we have made it for years and it hits the spot with a nice crusty French baguette or biscuit. 

I first made some chicken stock since all the spatchcocked chickens I made this summer had the backbones added to my stock bag in the freezer. Combined with a celery stem and leaves, carrots, onion and garlic in the pressure cooker, I have a nice stock in no time. The actual stock recipe is elsewhere on this blog. 

Ingredient list (makes 5 quarts)

1 Rotisserie chicken or the chicken you may have used to make stock, shredded

2 zucchini halved and cut into 1/4 inch moons

Bag of baby carrots, you might want to steam these a bit to soften them

2 Quarts of stock

1 quart of milk, plus 

1t Lawry's seasoned salt

1t Dry mustard

1/2 pound of cheese like Velveeta

1/2 c Parmesan 

I made the soup today without a roux and flour but you are more than welcome to start that way if you like it thick and creamy. I like a bit thinner and creamy so I add a bit of Wondra at the end to achieve the consistency I like. 

Heat the broth first and add the carrots to cook them a bit. Add the Velveeta in chunks and allow to melt, stirring to keep it from scorching. I added my milk, I use skim but whatever you have is fine. Let it simmer and just begin to boil but watch the heat so it does not scorch on the bottom. Add the seasonings and parmesan. You can add the zucchini and chicken to the pot. If its too thin start sprinkling in Wondra until it gets to where you like it,  Verify you seasoning adding pepper if desired and more salt although mine was plenty salty with the cheeses. I added more milk to fill my 5 quart saucepan. Pretty tasty,  easy soup.