Can anyone help please? chicken stock or chicken soup what do I do with it?

[CatMandu]

We had roast chicken the night before last and chicken pie last night. So I bunged the remainder of the bird and any meat that was left on it (a fair bit) in a pan with some carrots, leeks, parsnips and seasoning for a couple of hours last night. It went in the fridge overnight. In the past I've just sieved it and used the liquid for stock, but I'm wondering if I could use it for soup for a change. I haven't done it before so how do I get the meat off the bones or vica versa, also when I bunged in the veg I just chopped it into big chunks including the tops, so not exactly bitesize and with tops. Shall I give up on the soup concept - aghhh I wish I'd thought it through last night.

I know it's dull, but I really could do with some advice - please?

Ok so strain it and take all the remaining meat off the bones and set aside. Bin the rest of it (not the stock of course. then sweat off some onions and garlic in some butter when they are translucent add a good spoonful of flour and allow to cook whilst stirring. Then add the stock and some herbs, allow to cook for about 20 mins, then season, add some milk or cream and the chopped up chicken. Serve with more herbs on top. I use basil.

I usually use mine to make a chicken risotto.

Hi I would strain the lot, work with the liquid and discard the carcass and cooked veg as it'll be a good quality stock. Presuming you have over a pint of liquid you could either freeze it for a later day or search on the internet for a tasty soup recipe - most require a stock base. If you don't freeze it today you'll need to consume it by tomorrow. Mulligatawny soup (using curry powder) would be my choice.

Oh thank you, thank you, thank you - I'm trying to be good at using up all the food, but it's all a bit new. I'm going to give Carmenere's suggestion a go - soup for lunch, yummy.