Monday Night Meal

Chicken Soup with Onion&Garlic Focaccia

Soup

1 whole chicken, cut up

4 Tbl salt

4 cabbage leaves

2 leeks, washed, white & light green parts only

2 parsnips, washed & halved

4 stalks of celery, washed & cut to fit in pot

6 carrots, peeled & cut into 2" chunks

1/4-1/2 cup Alphabets pasta

1) If you have a very large stockpot, use it (I use two large pots b/c I don't have one pot big enough - and I divide all ingredients in half between both pots). If you are just using one pot, put chicken, salt, cabbage, leeks, parsnips, and celery into pot. If using two pots, put half of chicken pieces in one pot and half in the other, making sure you have one breast, one thigh, one wing, etc. in each pot. Then put 2Tbls salt, 2 cabbage leaves, 1 leek, 1 parsnip, 2 stalks of celery in each pot. Cover all ingredients with cold water.

2) Bring to a boil and let it go at a low boil or high simmer for 45 minutes.

3) Add in carrots (splitting between two pots if using two pots).

4) Cook another 30 minutes. Remove everything except carrots from the pot. Save the chicken, discard everything else. Add the pasta to the pot and cook as long as the package directs. As the pasta is cooking, separate half the chicken meat from the bones and cut up into bite-size pieces. Add back to the soup pot. Take the other half of the chicken meat, shred, and set aside for later use (enchiladas).

5) I like to serve this soup with a little pepper sprinkled on top!

Foccaccia

1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)

1 T. sugar

1 pkg. (1/4 oz.) active dry yeast (2 1/4 t.)

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup cake flour

1 T. kosher salt

2 T. olive oil

1 small onion, half finely chopped, half cut into thin slices

1 clove garlic, finely minced

Olive oil

Pinch of pepper

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried parsley

1) Combine water, sugar and yeast, mix lightly and proof until foamy, about 5 minutes.

2) Mix flours and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Make a well. Add oil to the yeast mixture once it has proofed, then pour into well of flour mixture.

3) Knead on low speed 10 minutes (if kneading by hand, knead same amount of time).

4) Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 2 hours.

5) Punch down dough and divide into two balls, pinching the bottoms closed. Place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place another hour.

6) Saute chopped onion in a little olive oil for 2 minutes. Add the garlic, saute another minute. Let this cool. In the same pan, add a little more olive oil and saute sliced onion about 5 minutes. Set aside.

6) After dough is finished rising, wrap one ball tightly in plastic wrap and save in refrigerator (for pizza later in the week).

7) Flour a working surface and knead in chopped onion/garlic mixture, pepper, basil, and parsley into the other ball of dough. Roll out the dough until it's around the size of a baking sheet. Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet.

8) Bake in a 450 degree oven for about 15 minutes (start checking at 10 minutes) until light golden around edges. Cut into strips and serve with soup.