Team Lunch

I have been making lunch for the crew at Gotham’s headquarters office every Wednesday. I love to cook, and there is something about making this for everyone where we enjoy the same meal. I try to make something different every week, similar to how I cooked when the kids were growing up.

This was a win, so I am posting. You can scale up or down depending on how many mouths you feed.

• Chicken Broth – I used pre-made from the grocery store
• A whole chicken
• Two large carrots – peeled and cut into two big pieces
• Two bay leaves
• few pieces of thyme
• rind of parmesan cheese
• cheesecloth
• a few cans of butter beans – drained
• a few heads of escarole – chopped
• shallots – sliced
• fennel – sliced
• parmesan cheese
• baguettes for croutons

Pour the chicken broth into a large soup pot. Add the chicken, carrots, thyme, and bay leaves and wrap them in cheesecloth and tie a knot. Add some water. Put the chicken in the pot, and the parmesan rind, bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until thoroughly cooked, about an hour or so. Remove the chicken and set it aside. I ate it for dinner, but you could shred it for chicken salad or a salad. The broth is now ready for the soup. I made it the night before

In a large frying pan, saute the shallots and fennel. Add the escarole and plenty of salt and olive oil until it is soft. Drain the butter beans. Set all of this aside and add to the soup about ten minutes before you serve it.

Cut the baguettes into cubes and toss them with olive oil and kosher salt. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until the cubes are lightly browned.

Before serving, warm up the broth, add the beans and escarole mix, and serve the soup with croutons and parmesan. Delicious!