Pea Soup, Carrot Soup, and Chicken Feet, O My!

Mark and I had one of the worst fights we've ever had because of those four innocent looking chicken feet above. While reading Nourishing Traditions, I learned that chicken feet are chock full of hydrophilic colloids, which are compounds that attract liquids, thus drawing out digestive juices and aiding in digestion. Colloids have been shown to successfully treat intestinal disorders like Crohn's disease, so I thought I'd throw a few feet into the stock if it meant that Mark's digestive track would be helped. He didn't exactly see eye to eye with me. We still haven't fully resolved how we'll be proceeding when it comes to the frozen digits that I have stashed behind the lamb's heart (or the stock that I already made with a handful of them at top left). Nonetheless, I thought my two faithful readers might like to see some of the fractious appendages.

In addition to making stock with chicken feet, I made an easy pea soup (bottom right) with a bag of dried peas that I think we inherited from my mother on our wedding day - 5 years ago! - and an organic smoked ham hock. I just followed the directions on the bag, and we ended up with a pretty tasty soup! I also threw together a carrot soup which was pretty good. Here's the recipe:

Carrot Soup
1 lb carrots, peeled and sliced
1 onion
4 T butter
2 t curry powder
1 quart of chicken stock
lemon rind
grated ginger
sea salt and pepper
creme fraiche

Saute onions and carrots very gently in butter about 45 minutes or until tender. Add curry powder and stir around til well mixed. Add stock, bring to a boil, and skim. Add lemon rind and ginger. Simmer, covered, about 15 minutes. Puree witha handheld blender. Season to taste. Serve with creme!