Mommy's Chicken Noodle Soup
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| Mommy's Chicken Noodle Soup |
I think we can all
agree that nothing is more comforting on a rainy or snowy day than a hot bowl
of chicken soup. Not only is chicken soup is the ultimate comfort food, warming
us inside and out, but it's also been proven to help fight colds and flus. I
can make this soup in my sleep, and after doing it for the first time in a
while, I can see why. Chicken soup - though time consuming - is actually pretty
easy to make. All it takes is a basic knowledge of the ingredients, which you
then gather, throw into a pot and boil until the water has absorbed all the
goodness from the chicken and veggies. Strain out the chicken and veg, add some
noodles, and presto! You have chicken noodle soup! The broth in this recipe
will keep for about 4 days in fridge and can be eaten as is, with noodles, or
frozen in blocks or ice cube trays and thawed as needed for use in soups, stir
fries, or as a braising liquid.
Here's How You Do It
Total
Prep and Cook Time: Approximately 2.5 hours.
Serves
4 to 6
Ingredients
2 lbs of Chicken Wings or Chicken Bones -
I used wings for this recipe because they're cheap and meaty, but if you can
find chicken bones, which are cheaper, or have the carcass of a leftover roast
or rotisserie chicken, you can use that instead
3 Large or Medium Carrots - scrubbed of all dirt and the
tough woody bit at the end removed - you can peel these if you want, but you
don't have to
2 Parsnips - scrubbed and the tough woody
bit at the end removed - these are a white root vegetable that look a lot like
carrots but aren't. Peeled, boiled and mashed, they make a nice alternative to mashed
potatoes, and are great fried up as chips too! Like the carrots, you can peel
these for the soup if you want, but you don't have to
3 Stalks aka Ribs of Celery - rinsed of
all dirt, the very bit at the wider end removed, and cut in half
2 Medium Onions - Cut in Half but not
peeled - I have no idea why peeling the onions isn't necessary, I just know it
works.
1 Small Bunch of fresh Dill (Optional) - a
bunch about 1/2 an inch across plus more - finely chopped - to top the soup with -
this is an herb that adds great flavor to the soup and can be found in the
produce section of most grocery stores. The soup I grew up with always had dill
in it, but if you don't like, you don't have to add it. Want to give it a try
but don't know what to look for? Here's a picture.
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| Fresh Dill |
6 to 8 Cups of Water + More for boiling
your noodles - The amount depends mainly on the size of your pot
Salt - to taste
1/2 of a 375 g Pkg of Egg Noodles - see
the image below - Unlike the pasta we usually eat, egg noodles are softer, thinner,
and tend to cook more quickly. They come in sizes ranging from short and fine
to extra broad. They're usually either found in the pasta section or among the canned
and powdered soups in the grocery store. If you're cholesterol conscious,
there's even a brand of egg noodles made without yolks. These noodles are great
in chicken soup, but they also make a nice side dish for stews when boiled,
strained, and tossed in a little butter or margarine.
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| Egg Noodles |
Equipment
1 Large Pot
1 Cooking Spoon with a long handle
1 Cutting Board
1 Heat Proof Bowl - A metal mixing bowl
or sturdy glass bowl will do the job just fine
1 Metal Strainer
1 Regular or Medium Metal Bowl
1 Trivet - that's the technical term for
that thing you stick under pots to keep them from burning the counter
1 Medium or Large Pot - for boiling your
egg noodles
4 Plastic containers with lids - 1 for
your broth or stock, 1 for your egg noodles, 1 for your cooked carrots, and 1
for your cooked chicken.
In your large
pot, dump the chicken, bunch of dill, onions, carrots, celery, and parsnips.
Add enough water
to cover the chicken and make the vegetables float.
Bring the whole
thing to a boil.
Lower the heat
and keep it bubbling, uncovered for an hour.
As it's bubbling
away, you'll notice a white foam rising to the top of the soup. Most people
call this the "scum", but I call it "soup scum" because
it's more specific and the name adds a nice ring to something that's quite
nasty looking. The scum is actually protein, and while you don't HAVE to skim
it off, I do, as I find it produces a nicer, clearer soup broth. To skim the
scum off, take your long handled spoon and run the scoop part sideways across
the surface of the bubbling broth making sure to gather as much foam as
possible without taking out too much of the liquid broth. See the images below.
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| Chicken Soup Scum |
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| Chicken Soup Scum Skimming |
Dump the scum
into a regular or small metal bowl. This will take a few passes of your spoon
over the bubbling soup but I assure you, it's worth it.
Discard the soup
scum.
Once the
vegetables in the soup are soft, take the pot off the heat and put it on a
trivet on the counter.
Let the soup
cool for a half an hour.
Put your heat
proof bowl in the sink or on a trivet on the counter.
Put your metal
strainer in the bowl.
CAREFULLY, without spilling anything, pour the contents of your large pot into
the strainer and set the pot aside.
Lift the
strainer and shake it gently to get all the broth from the solids into the
bowl.
Pour the broth
back into the pot and taste it.
If it tastes too
chickeney, add some water to it, a cup at a time, until it's as you like it.
Add some salt, a
teaspoon at a time, stirring after each addition, until the broth is salty
enough for you. I like to add the salt at the end because a lot of my friends -
not to mention my parents - are salt sensitive. If you want to be extra careful, serve the soup unsalted
and let them add their own.
It's now good to
go...
...Unless you
want it low fat, of course.
IF you want a low fat broth, cool the broth to room temperature on
the counter, cover it, and then put the pot in the fridge. If the pot won't
fit, put the broth in a large plastic container, close it, and then put it in
fridge.
Cool the broth
for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Remove the lid.
The fat will have solidified and risen to the top - see the image below - where
you can easily take it off with a spoon or clean rubber gloved hands and
discard it. The broth can then be reheated for soup or frozen.
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| The stuff on the surface is the chicken fat - it will melt and become clear if heated with the soup or you can simply remove it |
To turn this
chicken soup into chicken noodle soup, all you need to do is add noodles, chicken,
and if you like 'em, carrots.
To cook the egg
noodles, in a medium or large clean pot, boil them until tender (do a taste
test to make sure) - approximately 2 to 5 minutes depending on the size of your
egg noodles. Strain 'em out and put them in a container until you're ready to
assemble and serve your soup. I always keep the soup and noodles separate until
serving time because I find the noodles get too mushy and gummy if you keep them in
the broth.
Remember the veg
and chicken you used to make the chicken broth?
Unfortunately -
as I hate waste - most of this should be thrown out. However, you can salvage the carrots and chicken if
you like them in your chicken soup. Simply remove the skin - if using the wings
- from the chicken, and pull the meat off the bones. The chicken will be very soft, so it should pop right off. The carrots can be put in the soup as is, or you can chop
them up and then put them in the soup.
Like the
noodles, I prefer to keep the chicken and carrots separate in the fridge until
serving time.
TO ASSEMBLE THE SOUP
If the broth is
cool, heat it up in a pot on the stove or in plastic container in the
microwave. The broth might be a bit gelatinous right out of the fridge but I can
assure you it will liquefy once heated.
Put some
noodles, chicken, and if you like em, cooked carrots, in your soup bowls, and
then pour the hot broth over them.
Top with some
fresh chopped dill and you're ready serve!
Enjoy!
The holidays are
a-coming and that means most of us will be celebrating!
Since partying
can be so expensive, I'm doing my next series on budget-friendly alcoholic
beverages.
So stick around!
-Samantha R. Gold
Questions? Comments? Requests?
Bring it on!
I can be reached at: for.the.culinarily.challenged@gmail.com
Trolls will be unceremoniously deleted
and dismissed.
