Super Soup!

This past Saturday, I picked some interesting chicken parts from my oh so favorite Seven Bridges Farms. I discovered that if I asked ahead of time, they'll get some of the innards that aren't always used and sell them for pretty cheap. By 'innards' I mean the gizzards, livers, hearts, necks and feet. Yes, I said feet! (I know they're not technically an innard, but chicken feet are pretty odd... and scary looking... like some sort of zombie, franken-feet...)

I only ended up buying the feet, livers and gizzards. The livers were saved to make some fried chicken livers, which, by the way, turned out to be a complete fail! It's not the flavor of the liver that's the problem. I'm not so good at frying foods...

Anyhoo, I did some research and found out that chicken feet make the best stock. I took my franken-feet and used my fave bone broth recipe to create just that. I then used the sauce to make a fantastic soup with the gizzards and stew beef.

Pressure Cooker Gizzard and Beef Soup

Ingredients:

• coconut oil
• 1 lb chicken gizzards, cut into 4 pieces
• 1 lb stew beef
• 3-4 cups spinach, roughly chopped
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 small onions, chopped
• 2 large carrots, chopped
• 4 stalk celery, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 sprigs rosemary
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 5-6 cups homemade broth
• salt/pepper, to taste

Method:

• Heat coconut oil in a pressure cooker over medium-high heat. Add the beef and gizzards and cook until browned. Remove and set aside.
• Add a little more coconut oil to the pressure cooker, if necessary. Add the onions, carrots and celery, and cook until softened (3-5 minutes). Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
• Add the broth, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, rosemary, parsley and a some salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and add the browned meat. Put the lid on the pressure cooker and increase the heat to high. Wait until the cooker comes to high pressure, then turn down the heat to the lowest possible setting to maintain high pressure. Cook for 25 minutes. Remove from heat. Turn the pressure valve to release the steam.
• Take the lid off and remove the bay leaves, cinnamon stick and rosemary sprigs (the leaves should have fallen off). Move the pot back to medium heat. Add the spinach and let cook until wilted. Taste, adjust the seasonings.
• Enjoy!

The beef and gizzards end up nice and tender. There's no real funk to the soup that you might expect. It's beautifully seasoned and a wonderfully herby/warm.  Fear not the weirdness that is the chicken gizzard! 

Tip: I must say that if you have the time, try making your own stock. When you hear people say that you should have some chicken noodle soup or chicken broth to help you feel better, they don't mean getting some canned stuff. You'll get the most benefit from making it yourself! Save the bones from rotisserie chickens, beef bones or go out and get some chicken feet. An easy recipe is to take the bones, some salt, a little apple cider vinegar, black peppercorns and a couple bay leaves, and throw them into a crock pot. Pour in enough water to just cover the bones. Cook on low for 24 hours. Strain the spices, bay leaves and bones from the broth. Voila! Homemade Stock!