Chicken vegetable soup

Ok, this was a whim on a rather dreary day. Sometimes, ya just need a good bowl of soup, yanno?

Ingredients:

1 Whole roaster chicken
4 stalks of celery
3 whole carrots
1/2 onion, diced fine
1/2 lb fresh green beans, cut into sections
3 ears of corn, uncooked
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
cajun spice
herbs de provance
1 cube of chicken bullion

Directions:

Place the whole chicken into your largest sauce pan. Fill with enough water to cover the chicken. Place on high and bring to boil. Cook chicken until it falls off of the carcass. Remove the carcass. Chop up all veggies and add in. Taking a knife, scrape the blade down the corn cob to remove the kernels. Add in chicken bullion. Place on medium and let simmer until all the veggies are tender. Add seasonings to taste. Serve with bread and butter.

* - Alternate version: once the chicken is done, drain off some of the juice and add a can of cream of mushroom or cream of celery condensed soup. Add in the veggies and seasonings.

Roasted Beef with Sauce Poivrade

Ok, as I have eluded previously, I do medieval re-enactment. I decided to why not join the two things I love to do most in the world? Yes, folks, this is my first foray into the world of medieval-style period cooking...with a twist!!! I got this recipe from a friend of mine who has a wonderful website dedicated to period style recipes (Thank you, Master Huon!! If you get the chance, check out godecookery.com !!!). Anyway, this was an experiment that came out fantastically as did the twist, where I served corn on the cob and mashed potatoes from scratch. A bit of old meets new!!!

Ingredients:

4-5 lbs roast of beef
1 cup cider vinegar
1 cup beef stock
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup shredded onions
2 tablespoons of butter
salt
black pepper
herbs de provance

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Rub the herbs de provance into the roast beef and pan sear on each side for about 3-4 minutes, maximum. Place roast into roasting pan and cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Combine butter, onions and carrots into a sauce pan. Sautee until onions and translucent and carrots are soft. Add in cider vinegar and beef stock to taste. Salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Pull out roasted beef and slice thin. Spoon the sauce poivrade over the roasted beef. Serve with favorite side dish.