Hotel Gourmet, Day Seven: There's No Taste Like Home

It was my seventh night cooking dinner in Hitchin and the middle of a bank holiday in England (we would just say three-day weekend back home). It was also the point in my trip at which I started really longing for home.

Admittedly, I had also been rather aggressive with my new microbiota, consuming lots of raw vegetables, sometimes with lunch and dinner. This was a big departure from my digestive norm and, therefore, not one promoted by the clinic. I was supposed to eat well, but also take it easy. When my microbes asked for a break, I had just the solution.

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Food for the soul--my soul, to be exact

For a rough day or a rough gut, there is nothing quite like Mom's homemade chicken soup, which seems almost limitless in the pains it can soothe. I wasn't in bad shape, mind you, but chicken soup was precisely the medicine I needed. Now, if only it were as good as Mom's...

For some reason, steak is considered a solo affair but chicken is only for sharing. I wanted organic pastured chicken with bones in and skin on. Thighs met those requirements and then some--I would just have to eat four of them.

Today's recipe also liberated me to finally buy celery and those nice-looking bags of organic carrots. While I did not use all of them on the first day, the surpluses was perfectly usable the next, even with no refrigeration.

While not present in this cart, don't forget about yesterday's rhubarb, Bramley apple, and berries, which were put to good use around lunch time.

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This was my lunchtime adventure:

Apple, Raspberry and Rhubarb Compote

The ingredients

Add to pot with water

Cook and add lemon

Save some for later

Eat the rest

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...And this is what I made for dinner:

Mom's Chicken Soup

• Add chicken to pot.
• Chop and add vegetables to pot.
• Add salt, spices and water to pot. (I used thyme and white pepper because I had them.)
• Cook until the meat and vegetables are tender, then enjoy!

Add chicken

Add parsley and onion

Add carrot and celery

Add water and spices

Cook until soft

Savor

Fresh Garden Salad

• Buy some vegetables and rinse them.
• Chop and add to bowl.
• Squirt on some lemon juice and add good olive oil.

Get vegetables

Chop and add some lemon

Add oil and enjoy

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Like I said, this was exactly the medicine I needed. Granted, I used too many carrots, which made the broth a little sweet, but it was a passable imitation of Mom's recipe. My gut appreciated a slightly less raw meal, though that salad was nothing to scoff at. I also tried my hand at makeshift canning with my extra compote. (This must have been the reason I was saving those empty olive containers.) After the contents cooled, the vacuum-seal lids popped in, just as I expected. I wouldn't count on them to last weeks but I will proceed with caution and, with any luck, share the results!

In good health,
Ethan