Making Your Own Cream of Chicken Soup

(an excerpt from the upcoming e-book, Tales and Thoughts from the Contemporary Parent's Kitchen)

Making Your Own Cream of Chicken Soup

Cream of chicken soup is a pantry essential but I got freaked out when I read about the “bad things” in canned chicken soup on the internet. The internet is a scary place. I am more fearful of my own house now thanks to various websites.

Anyway, you start out by making a roux out of butter and flour.
A roux is a cooked combination of equal parts fat and flour. For example, two tablespoons of butter are melted in a pan. Add two tablespoons of flour. Stir constantly over a low heat until the two ingredients are “one”. The key is to make sure that the heat is low and the stirring is constant. Otherwise you are in danger of creating a lumpy roux. “Lumpy Roux” sounds like Kanga’s “other child”. Get that? No? Oh, well.

When it has been heating for awhile then add your, preferably homemade, chicken stock. Simmer until thickened. Make sure the stock is at room temperature otherwise the temperature difference between the liquid and the roux will cause lumpiness. If you just brought the stock out of the fridge because you forgot to bring it out earlier, then just warm it up in the microwave for a bit.