Anaheim chile and roasted chicken soup

It is strange to be roasting another chicken so soon after the previous chicken, but circumstances conspired for it. That previous chicken was small and its broth was weak and all of the stock from the carcass of that chicken was used for risotto and all of its flesh was used for the curry topping for that risotto, and now it's all gone and I am once again forlornly chicken broth-less. Oh, there is commercial chicken broth around, but I'm talking about the real deal. The conspiring circumstances were the remodeling of the store I visited, the dearth of seafood there, the availability of a free range organic chicken on sale for $4.00 off the regular price right there at the spot where my dismay about seafood was overtaking me and forcing the formulation of a new plan including the possibility of leaving the store, the abundance of fresh chiles that sprung the idea of making a chile soup that would require a base of chicken broth. So back and forth I went in that store being remodeled passing over and over again other shoppers doing the same thing. Naturally I chatted it up with everybody, c'mon, it's a captive audience then in'nit. 

This chicken was brined extravagantly overnight. One cup of kosher salt, 3/4 cup cane sugar, then some 25 peppercorns, a tablespoon of coriander seeds, a teaspoon of cumin seeds, a teaspoon of celery seeds, a teaspoon of fennel seeds, a teaspoon of caraway seeds, a tablespoon of mixed dry chile peppers, all ground up to powder in a coffee grinder, and then 1/2 cup of Bacardi dark rum. The dark rum because I didn't want to open a bottle of wine. When I surveyed the available liquors on hand in the cabinet I realized there is nothing really inexpensive in there, all of it I pretty much hate anyway so it made little difference which one I chose. I lingered on the whiskeys, all very good whiskeys or so I understand, but abominable to my tender sensibilities, a variety of vodkas which I only seldom even touch. I see other people drinking them. I ask them what they like and then pick it up. There is a decently well-stocked bottle shop next door to where I live so it's all very convenient. Then I noticed the Bacardi dark rum. Truly ghastly in everything I've tried it. So I thought, "Eh, what the heck." It would be a background flavor-relayer for all the other heavy-handed spices that went into the brine. I think. Then again it could be the poisoning of the whole endeavor. 

Plus it seemed like a good a way as any to get rid of it. 

The chicken was dried, oiled, and roasted on high heat for shortly less than an hour.

Covered to nearly finished, then uncovered to brown although browning is not important since the chicken will not be presented at the table. 

Almost no liquid or fat at all was exuded, which is unusual but not unwelcome. 

A portion of this flesh ↑ will be used for the chile soup, the remainder frozen.

Cracked open bones and messy bits ↓ left on the bone. I do not bother trying to get every last morsel. 

The broken up carcass is returned to the pot the chicken was roasted in. The bones are roasted at high heat to put a singe on them and to develop the marrow, adding a layer of flavor and depth via the Maillard reaction. All of that will be dissolved into the broth.

Included also for roasting are all the things in the packet that the producers stuffed into the chicken's cavity; neck, gizzards, heart, liver. So this broth will have all the flavor of those things too. Many people leave out the liver. But, why? 

The pot was deglazed stovetop with a splash of Madera then the pot filled with water.

A broth not a plain stock, because of the heavily seasoned brine and because of the aromatic vegetables. 

Not pictured because it's not interesting or helpful or artistic: the full pot of boiling water with everything in it, submerged bones and vegetables.

 A foam forms when the water first comes to a boil. These are proteins that have loosened, their molecular structure enabling the formation of small bubbles that appear, then pop and disappear back into the broth. These renegade proteins tend to cloud the broth and impart an unpleasant somewhat unclean bitterness. The foam can be skimmed off the surface as it forms but only for a few minutes and then the opportunity is lost. Not a catastrophe, but might as well take advantage of the opportunity when it presents itself. 

The chile photos ↓ are displayed out of sequence to the process which was actually multi-tasked. The chiles were roasted under the broiler burner while the chicken was being pulled from the bone and the carcass crushed for roasting. Then the chiles were allowed to steam in a plastic grocery bag wrapped in a kitchen towel then their charred skin removed completely as possible along with the the seeds while the broken carcass roasted. 

The entire pot of broth is run through a colander capturing the exhausted carcass and used vegetables. The broth is then run through a sieve back into the original pot. A portion is reserved and frozen, the rest is used for today's chile soup.

The broth already has onion, carrot, celery, garlic flavors cooked into it so there is no point in doubling up on those with the soup. The chiles prepared earlier are added to the portion that is not reserved and frozen. Spices are added, the usual Latin favorites, coriander, cumin, Mexican oregano, cayenne. The soup is whizzed with an immersion blender until homogenous. 

Masa harina was added on impulse to thicken the soup. Two tablespoons were whizzed in. Cream is added to the bowl not to the batch that way each bowl can be controlled independently and the cream can stay fresh. 

This photo ↓ was taken for an earlier post. 

Buy a bag of that stuff ↑ next time you see it. It will change your world if it hasn't already. This particular brand is marketed for tamales but it's the same thing that makes tortillas. It is ground corn, the kernels of which underwent nixtamalization, processed with an alkali to remove the husks. The powder mixes readily with any liquid and releases an aroma that is distinctly Mexican. The second serving of soup was thickened further with another tablespoon of this masa harina whisked in and the classically Mexican aroma was intensified. It also relaxed the heat of the chiles along with the cream. 

I should add that by roasting a variety of chiles this way and blending them together, the overall effect is a much broader, rounder, fuller, multi-dimensional chili profile that is extraordinary and addictive. Compare that with dumping a tablespoon of cayenne into a pot of chile con carne.

Previously roasted chickens to broth or stock:

roasted chicken
roasted chicken
homemade chicken broth
turkey, chicken, broth
chicken broth
roasted chickens
roasted chicken
roaster