Soup has traditionally been Mus-go; aka clean-out-the-refrigerator. Some more successful then others. Since discovering "UMAMI", success has been more consistent. So tonight I make a version. The second night of roasted chicken from the market. I love the flavor of roasting-the carmelized juices. Pulled off the lg meat pieces for hubby and simmered the rest. Then removed skin and bones. Added the stump of celery, green onion that were past prime and mus-go-mushrooms. Then the seasoning: saurkraut, siracha, rosemary, salt, garlic. Finally added pasta for a version of chicken and noodle soup. Very good. Glad to have leftovers.

The umami were: carmelized skin and juices, celery, mushrooms, saurkraut.

Sounds delicious!

I make lots a various soups for the winter season. I tend to use up what's been in the freezer a bit too long in the way of veggies. My tomato soups and squash soups tend to get most of the old veggies as they'll get pureed in the process and no one is the wiser what I've put into my soups. I now call my tomato soups "VT" or Veggie Tomato soup for that reason. My soup soup comes out so thick that I can use it as a sauce also. Great way to clean out the fridge and freezer. I've started dehydrating mushrooms before that start to go bad so I don't lose them at all.

Homemade soup is so good this time of year. I make it often. Ilike buying the store rosdted chickens. Two easy meals with one chicken. It adds a lot of flavor to soups.

I rarely have mushrooms go bad; I usually buy them for a specific recipe so they get used within a day or two of purchase. Once in a while, though, for whatever reason, the recipe doesn't get made. For example, planning steak on the grill with a side of mushrooms and DH ends up having a meeting so not home to grill. I'm not bothering just for me!

Never thought about dehydrating those mushrooms before. I do have a dehydrator. How do you use them once dehydrated? Do you just add them to a dish, or rehydrate first?

The biggest upside to winter, for me, is the soups and casseroles that are good and warming. With just two of us here now, there are always enough leftovers for at least one more meal - meaning a day with a good meal and no cooking or clean up to speak of.

When I went to a gourmet cooking class long ago I learned about the umami taste. Back then it was achieved by slowly roasting vegetables in meat juices. Restaurants could buy it by the gallon. Now the same thing can be found in bullion paste. I use Better than Bullion (because it's easy to find ) Vegetable paste. Just a little is all that is needed. Excellent in sauces and gravy. Add salt last as the bullion is concentrated. Also learned to use caramel powder to make any gravy, sauces or juices dark as desired. it's hard to find but one small jar will last decades.

I like making my own stock so that it does not have the commercial stabilizing additives and I can control the salt amount. I throw bones, meat scraps and fat, veggies (including carrot peels, cauli and broccoli stems etc.) into my big crockpot and cook on low for as much as 24 hours. Only downside is waking up to a delicious aroma at 4 a.m!

We were never kale eaters, but I have started throwing it into my soups instead of chopped spinach. It retains its texture better. I usually keep a couple of cans of evaporated milk on hand because it is a good alternative to cream in soups, and is much cheaper.

Which reminds me--I have a ham bone and scraps in the freezer. Weather report is calling for off and on flurries all week. Sounds like a great time to make a big pot of split pea soup!

Homemade stock is cleaner but hard to get consistent flavor in every batch that customers are wanting from the same meal they had before so I understand them using batch stock.

Yum! We use the ham bone in pot of pinto beans!