How many ways can a person make Chicken Soup?!?

A lot.

I had planned on having roasted chicken for dinner last night.  Alas, I spent a few hours in the ER at Paoli Hospital getting poked, prodded, CT scanned and pharmaceutically comfortable.

I actually went to the Dr because I had a severe pain in my abdomen.  It felt like a classic diverticulitis.  On a scale of 1-10, pain was at a 12.  Even at that, it took a bit of convincing by Victor that it was a prudent thing to call the Dr.  I think he said something like “I’m only doing to mention this one more time, and if you don’t call the Dr I’m going to make your life hell.”  We’re very subtle with one another.

I took the cue.

My primary care Dr poked and prodded and thought the same thing – the location, the symptoms…  But the degree of pain was worrisome.  I really couldn’t even stand up straight.  In order to get the proper type of antibiotic, they would need more information.  He called the ER, gave them his thoughts, told them to expect us, and off we went.

I love Paoli Hospital.  Every single Employee/Dr/Nurse/Tech/Whatever I have dealt with over the years has been great.  Upbeat, positive, professional – my kind of place.  And the ER was textbook perfect.

Fortunately it was a slow afternoon – I was admitted in minutes, and within another few minutes I had an IV in my arm.  After taking my vitals, the most woooooooonderful little drug was introduced that made all the pain go away.  Gotta love modern pharmacopeia.

After a few hours of tests, the end result was NOT diverticulitis, but,”Undetermined Cause.”  I was sent on my way with instructions to get back with my PC Dr next week and a prescription for Peroset.

Today, the cold is still with me but the pain has pretty much abated.  I only took one pill this morning.

So back to the chicken…

I needed to get the chicken cooked – it had been in the ‘fridge long enough.  So last night after dinner – leftover chicken soup – I just threw it in the oven.  Salt & Pepper.  That was it.  Out of the oven, into the fridge.  Me into bed.

This afternoon, I pulled all the meat off the bird and cooked the carcass down.

I ended up with a really rich broth to which I added potatoes, brown rice, a few split peas, carrots, celery, peas, corn, white beans, a can of diced tomatoes, little scoops of a lot of different grains in the cupboard, and some of the chicken meat… I then let it simmer.

Perfection.

And to round out our perfect soup, I decided we needed cornbread.  Not just any cornbread, mind you, Adluh Cornbread!

It was great!  Light and cake-like, but not sweet!  Excellent texture and loads of corn flavor.  It’s a just-add-water mix that makes a perfect 8×8 pan.

I had bacon grease in the fridge so I greased the pan with it but brushed to top with melted butter after it came out of the oven.

It was the perfect accompaniment to a big bowl of soup.  We weren’t in the mood for too much food tonight, but I could just imagine this with honey or fresh jam.  And it would probably be perfect for a cornbread dressing.

Yumlicious!

Adluh is down in South Carolina but you can get their goodies sent right to your door!  Take a look and support small businesses!