Culinary Disasters

Well it is getting that time of year where everyone is starting to get sick and nothing helps better than a bowl of chicken noodle soup.

The base of any great soup is going to be found in the stock that is used.  So either make your own (I perfer the old fashion way of using bones and necks that takes hours and is a great thing to have a backburner during a Sunday while you clean or are cooking your big Sunday meal).  If you do have to buy make sure it is the low sodium kind but realize stock making is very very very simple and takes little to no work (you could probably train a chimp to do it if you try hard enough).  I am going to show you a quick and easy way to make your own and also give you chicken that you can use for the soup.

For the quick and dirty stock you will need:

• 1 whole chicken cut up and skin removed
• 1 onion quartered
• 1 rib of celery with rough chop
• 1 carrot with rough chop
• handful of parsley springs
• handful of thyme springs
• couple cloves of garlic smashed

Basically add all ingredients into a pot and cover with enough water to cover and bring to a barely simmer (boil is very bad) and cook till chicken is done (about an hour).  You want to skim the surface to remove any gunk that accumulates.  Using a strainer lined with cheese cloth and strain everything into a bowl.  Put aside and let it cool down.  Skim the top surface again and you will have a workable stock. 

 Throw away the vegetables and remove the chicken from the bones, shred, and place in another bowl.

Once you have a good stock then it is time to start on the soup.  I only like to add a pinch of salt and pepper at the vegetable stage after that no salt and pepper touches the dish till the soup has been removed from the heat.  This is because it is an easy dish to ruin with to much salt. 

• 1 chicken shredded of meat
• 1 onion chopped fine
• 2 rib of celery chopped fine
• 2 carrot chopped fine
• 5 ounces of mushrooms quartered
• 3 cloves of garlic chopped fine
• 6 cups of stock
• 2 cups of egg noodles
• TB of thyme leaves
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt and pepper
• TB of butter
• Couple tb of chopped parsley

For the bowl layout I like to use:

• Onion, celery, and carrot
• Garlic
• Mushrooms
• Chicken

The first thing you want to do is bring the 6 cups of stock to a boil in another pan.  This will let you know if the stock is bad before you add it to the main pot.  Also, it will be easier if the stock is already hot when you add it.

The first step is going to melt the tb of butter over medium-low heat.  After it has melted go ahead and add in the bowl containing onion, celery, and carrots and a pinch of salt and pepper.  We want to gently sautee this so that none of the veggies take on any color.  Once they are soft (about 10-15 minutes) go ahead and add in the garlic and stir for 1-2 minutes.

After the garlic has been incorporated add in the bowl containing the mushrooms and cook till most of the liquid is out of the mushrooms (about 10 minutes).

After that add the stock, thyme, bay leaf, and egg noodles and bring to a boil.

 Cook until the noodles are tender.  Remove from heat and stir in the parsley.  Taste and adjust any salt or pepper.  Serve and enjoy.

Tags: Quick, Healthy, chicken, All //