Planned Left-overs Using Homemade Shake & Bake Chicken

Having spent the majority of our time at our vacation home in temperatures above freezing and reaching as high as 72ºF we arrived at one of kids home in well below freezing temperatures.  We had take-out fish the first night and they made us a wonderful homemade cheese soup the second night.  Well that soup was enough to give the craving for good old fashioned, homecooked comfort food!  We arrived home to ice and snow with an almost empty fridge but since I wasn't cooking that night we left it to the following day when my husband picked up potatoes, milk, cream, sour cream, chicken thighs and a few fresh vegetables.  His request was he wanted homemade shake & bake chicken for dinner.

If you have been following this blog for any length of time you will know the story behind shake & bake chicken.  There were 6 chicken thighs so I decided to coat them all with   homemade shake & bake mix and bake along with potatoes with planned left-overs in mind.  I seved the chicken and baked potatoes with home canned green beans. Now you might question how I could possibly use left-over baked potatoes and with shake & bake chicken but as I pulled the first meal together the second meal was already in the planning stages.  My goal was to create another comfort type meal that would mimic some of the flavours of the first while introducing a couple of new flavours using the left-overs.

What could be better than a soup that picked up the essence of a favourite comfort meal while at the same time becoming its own unique comfort meal?  The snow was blowing, roads were closed, buses weren't running so making the left-over based soup while it howled outside was a nice diversion.  The kitchen smelled wonderful!

I had left-over chicken and baked potatoes to work with so that's what I started with and built from there.  The end result was a rich, creamy, filling soup full of warm, comforting flavour just perfect for a wintery day.  I used sour cream as a garnish but when stirred into the soup it really adds a nice flavour element.


Baked Potato and Chicken Soup
source:  Garden Gnome

2 tbsp butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, diced
2 chicken thighs, pre-cooked with skin and chopped
3 slices thick cut bacon
3 cold baked potatoes
6 c chicken stock
1½ c asparagus pieces
1½ c sautéed mushroom slices
1 c heavy whipping cream
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1 tbsp sour cream per serving

Cut the bacon across the slices.  Place in fry pan on medium.  Add onion and celery.  Cook until onion is just becoming translucent.  Cut baked potatoes into smaller chunks.  Place in fry pan with the onion mixture.  Warm through.  Cut chicken from the bone leaving the skin on the chicken.  Set aside.  Cut into bit sized pieces.  Transfer the potato/onion mixture to a stock pot.   Pour the stock into the pot and bring to a low boil.  While that mixture is heating sauté the mushroom slices in butter and set aside.  Wash and cut the asparagus into 1 - inch pieces.  Using a slotted spoon mash the potatoes in the stock mixture leaving just a few smaller pieces.  Pour in the mushrooms.  Let heat through.  Add the asparagus pieces.  Cook just to warmed through.  Stir in the whipping cream.  Remove from heat.  Ladle into bowls.  Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.  Garnish with a dollop of sour cream.