Chicken Noodle Soup

When I am not feeling well the only thing that sounds good is my homemade chicken and noodle soup.

It is comfort food to the 1000th degree.

The only down fall is, I have to make it.  I should freeze some, but I am not that organized.

Also this is a rough recipe because I don’t have any measurements.  It’s all eyeball this and how ever much you feel of that!

Here is what I do:

I use my biggest pot and fill it about 3/4 full of water. Put it on a burner set to high and on it’s way to a boil.

I use my biggest skillet and put it on a burner set to medium.

Chop 1/2 of an onion.  Or if it’s small, a whole onion.  It really depends on how much you like onion.  Yesterday, I liked 1/2 an onion. The amount of onion I end up with dictates how much carrot and celery I will cut.

Chop celery.  Equal to the amount of onion.

Chop carrot. Equal to the amount of celery.

Melt a stick of butter.

Add veggies.

There should be enough butter in the pan to completely coat all the veggies and then some.  This will be the base for our roux so you need to have enough fat.  I probably needed another whole stick of butter but because I can’t bring myself to use TWO sticks of butter in my soup, I add olive oil.  It’s silly, just use another stick of butter!  It’s a huge pot of soup.

By now your water is boiling.  Add one whole chicken to the boiling water. I eat chicken a lot, but this part always gives me the eeby-jeebies.  A chicken breast or a chicken thigh all by itself can be yuck enough, but to pick up a whole chicken and put it into a pot of boiling water, it’s too real for me.

I apologize to the chicken and say thank you for being delicious and letting me eat you and then I plunge it’s entire body into boiling water.

Then I add a couple sprigs of thyme.

Now is the time to grab a good book or play tetris because it’s going to be 30 minutes or so before you can do anything else.  I just check on everything once in a while and stir the veggies and make sure the water isn’t boiling over.

When the veggies are soft, start adding flour.  You want to add some flour and stir.

The goal is to add enough flour so all the moisture is absorbed.

I turn the heat down now so the flour mixture doesn’t burn.  The chicken should be done or at least pretty close.  Remove it from the boiling water.

I like to use a slotted spoon and remove any mystery floaters from the water!

Then I add a bay leaf or two and a couple of chicken bullion cubes.

You may need to add some hot water to the pot at this time as a lot of it will have evaporated while your chicken boiled.  After the water comes back up to a boil, add your veggie mixture.

Now, for the part I despise.  Remove all skin and bones and shred the chicken.  Ideally, you want to wait until the chicken is completely cool and then it’s super easy to just shred it with your fingers right over the pot. Easy Peasy.

I have no patience so I burn my fingertips immediately, and then over and over again as I think I will grab at it faster this time or maybe that part won’t be as hot as the last. I eventually end up with a fork and tongs, which are slippery because my hands are covered in chicken grease, and go at it like Edward Scissorhands.

Add the shredded chicken to the boiling water.

Now add your noodles.  I use frozen Reames egg noodles.

Once those go in, they need to cook for about 20 to 30 minutes. I let the pot come back up to a good boil for about 10 minutes and then I start turning the heat down each time I stir the pot.  After 30 minutes, it’s at a nice gentle simmer and everything is delicious.

Now get yourself a bowl so you can burn your tongue!

The whole soup making process takes like 2-3 hours.  It’s worth every minute.