My attempt at a staple... Chicken Soup

2012-01-25T17:48:00.000-08:00

Now, I know, it's kind of hard to mess this up. I mean, all you are really doing is boiling a chicken in water with some veggies. But I wanted to keep it healthy, and while I like the dark meat of the chicken, and I'm sure it would add a lot to the flavor of the soup, I omitted it.

While it did take me a few days to make this, you know the lack of time part, but it came out damn good.

Here's how I did it.

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup Yellow Onion (chopped, you can add more or less to liking)
4-5 Celery Stalks (cleaned and chopped to about 1/4" thickness)
4-5 Carrots (cleaned, peeled and chopped to about 1/4" thickness)
1 tbsp black peppercorns (you can add more or less to your liking)
2 Chicken Breasts (preferably with the bone, you can leave the skin on, but it will add a bit of fat to the soup)
Water (enough to cover, plus a bit more)
Egg Noodles (your choice)
Salt and Pepper

Day 1

In a stock pot, or any large or deep sauce pot, we're going to start our mirepoix. Heat your 2 tbsp of olive oil. Once you oil is nearly coating the bottom of you pot, add your onions. Slowly soften your onions, but try not to let them brown. Once softened, add your chopped carrots, celery, and peppercorns. Let all of that cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5-7 minutes, until you can really smell the onion and pepper. Place your chicken breast on top of the mixture, and add water to cover the it all to about an inch off the chicken breast. Let that come to a rolling boil over medium to high heat, then cover and reduce heat to medium and cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, then remove from the heat, and let it sit, covered for 2 hours, or until the side of your stock pot is warm to the touch. Place the stock pot in your fridge overnight.

Day 2
Pull your stock pot out of your fridge. Grab a spoon, this is when it's going to get fun. You should now see a whitish-yellow film on the top of the water, that my friends is the fat from the chicken, and the olive oil, we are going to take that out, so with your spoon, carefully skim the top of the soup and remove the fat. After you have done that, remove the chicken, place it in a colander and set it over you stock pot of about 15-20 minutes, let the juices fall back into the soup. Now, since we boiled the chicken in the water, it'll pretty much fall off the bone, so just start pulling the breast off the bone and shred the chicken, throwing the cartilage and bones out. Take the shredded chicken and put it back in the pot, now eye the water level, if it seems that the chicken is sticking out of the water, add enough to cover it. If you are going to add egg noodles add some more water. Now bring this back up to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Take a spoon and taste the soup, see if more salt or pepper is needed, season to taste. Now would also be a good time to add the noodles, cook noodles until al dente. Now serve! Enjoy!

Side note
If you feel the broth is not "chicken-y" enough, add one chicken bullion cube to the broth, but be careful, they tend to be high in salt, so it could lead to it being a bit to salty.

About me, and my food...

2012-01-25T17:08:00.000-08:00

So, I'm a 30-something foodie. I love to cook, and bake, if I can find the time. I find it very, well, therapeutic, so when I see something on TV, on Pinterest [it's internet crack], in a cookbook, the file of old family recipes, or an idea in my head, and I'll try it. If I like it, it'll stay the way it was intended, or I'll tweak it. So allow me to share my experiences with you!

Big Man, Little Kitchen

My attempt at a staple... Chicken Soup

About me, and my food...