Chicken Noodle Soup

I can't believe it took me this long to get this post up, I've been working on it for some time! Whew! At least it's still soup season!

Over the two weeks had off from work/school I wasn't feeling my best, I had allergies that turned into laryngitis and sinus infection, then the ENT said it was migraines instead of sinus headaches that I suffer from. Anyway I not only baked, but made a lot of comfort food too. I can't believe this is the first time I made Chicken Noodle Soup, and it sure won't be the last. In true form of my style of cooking I really didn't measure anything, just eyeballed it, and the nice thing about making your own soup is you can use what you like...I like the thick egg noodles, and I like the vegetables in a smaller dice, and plenty of herbs (they are full of nutrients too).


Next time I'll use my dad's recipe and make my own noodles, but this turned out pretty good. I used rosemary instead of thyme because that's what I had and I really don't care much for thyme.

Chicken Stock:
1 whole free-range chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds), rinsed, giblets discarded
2 carrots, cut in large chunks
3 celery stalks, cut in large chunks, (leaves included)
1 large white onions, quartered
4 cloves of garlic
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary (you could use thyme)
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Place the chicken and vegetables in a large stockpot over medium heat. Pour in cold water to cover (about 3 quarts) don't use too much. Toss in the thyme, bay leaves, and peppercorns, when it comes to a boil lower the heat to a simmer for about 1 hour, until the chicken is done. Carefully remove the chicken and set aside to cool enough to handle, discard the skin and bones; hand-shred the meat. Strain the stock through a fine sieve.

For the soup:
shredded cooked chicken (from above)
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 cloves of garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 bay leaf
1 cup mushrooms sliced (optional, I didn't use them this time)
2 quarts stock (from above)
8 oz or 1 bag egg noodles (depends how noodlely you like it)
1 teaspoon chives, tarragon, Turkish oregano, chervil (since I didn't have any parsley)
or
1 teaspoon Parisien Bonne Herbes
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
fresh parsley chopped and added near the end right before serving.

Heat oil in soup pot and add chopped celery, carrots, shallot and garlic until tender, add herbs. Pour in strained stock and bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer for 15 minutes. Add noodles, and chicken gently cook for 15 minute or until noodles are tender. Adjust the liquid if needed. Salt and pepper and if using fresh parsley add now and remove bay leaf before serving.

It made plenty for a tasty meal and enough left over for the next day or to freeze. You can see all the dried herbs, which are healthy too.

Good to the last drop, and just what the doctor ordered. I only wish I made it sooner. Usually I don't like to make soup because of the large amount it makes, but I now have a freezer full of different soups I can pull out when I want a nice bowl of comfort. I'm feeling better now, and am still wanting a bowl of this!

Living in Florida we get to see many different kinds of birds as they migrate north or south. One morning this is what woke me up early in the morning...a whole flock of some sort of black bird. They all flew around and landed to this one oak tree in our neighbor's yard. When they landed it sounded like we were being bombarded with acorns...with the squawking of the birds and the pelting sound of acorns dropping, you wouldn't believe how loud it was.

Then they all flew of to another tree, then back again...then off again. Good bye...see you later!