Chicken Noodle Soup
Egad, if someone gets sick in your house what do you do? There’s only one thing you can do…you bring out the big guns, that’s right, no messing with a million over the counter drugs, you bring out Mother Mayberry’s Chicken Noodle Soup. Guaranteed to, wait, umm, okay I better not make any guarantees as we live in a highly litigious society and I might get sued. Let’s just say, Chicken Noodle Soup always makes me feel better whenever I’m ill. There, that’s a personal opinion and I can’t get into trouble.
This is a pretty simple recipe, give it a try and tweak it accordingly…each person likes some variations on this, some like more noodles, some like it with a little more liquid, etc. Just find the right balance for you, but here’s the basics:
Chicken Noodle Soup
Serves: 12
Ingredients
1 gallon water
1 (4 pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces
1 large onion, peeled and halved
3 bay leaves
10 whole black peppercorns
2/3 bunch celery, leaves reserved
1 pound carrots
3 tablespoons chopped lemon grass (optional)
1/4 cup chicken soup base
1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced
1/3 bunch celery, chopped and leaves reserved
1 (8 ounce) package dry egg noodles
Directions
Place chicken and water In a large pot over High heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer, skimming fat as needed, 30 minutes. Place whole, peeled onion, bay leaves, peppercorns, whole celery, whole carrots and lemon grass in the pot and simmer, covered 1 hour. Strain broth and reserve chicken. When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove skin and cut meat into bite-size pieces. Return strained stock to pot over high heat, and stir in chicken base, chopped celery and chopped carrots. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes, or until carrots are tender. Chop celery leaves and stir into pot with the noodles. Simmer until noodles are cooked, about 10 minutes more. Stir in chicken and heat through.