Chicken Noodle Soup

This recipe is homemade chicken noodle soup from scratch. I use a similar method when cooking homemade Turkey Soup from the leftover carcass of a turkey dinner.

There are two parts to making chicken noodle soup from scratch. The first part is that you will have to make the chicken stock first. After the stock has cooked, you will add this flavorful broth to make the soup.

Ingredients:

For stock (broth):
3 - 4 lb whole chicken
8 - 10 cups of water (approximately)
3 carrots, unpeeled, cut into large chunks
3 celery stalks, cut into large chunks (include celery leaves)
1 large onion, unpeeled, quartered
10 whole black peppercorns
salt and freshly ground pepper
bouquet garni (2 bay leaves, 1 tsp dried parsley, 1/2 tsp dried basil, 1/4 tsp dried thyme) *
For soup:
8 to 10 cups chicken stock
cooked chicken meat from whole chicken, cubed
3 carrots, peeled and diced small or shredded
2 celery stalks, diced small
1 large onion, diced small
2 tbs butter or olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper, freshly ground

2 cups of egg noodles, uncooked

Directions:

For the Stock (Broth):

Remove the innards from the chicken and rinse chicken inside and out.
Place the whole chicken in a Dutch oven or large stock pot. Add plenty of water to cover the chicken completely by an inch or so.
Bring water just to a boil on medium-high heat. As soon as it comes to a boil, turn down heat to low. Skim off any foam that rises to the top.
Add the remaining broth ingredients: vegetables, black peppercorns, bouquet garni, salt and a few rounds of freshly ground pepper. Cover partially and simmer gently for 60 to 75 minutes until chicken is tender.
Remove chicken from the stock and allow to cool.
Once chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the chicken meat from the bones and carcass. Keep chicken warm or place in the refrigerator.
Place the carcass and bones back in the stock pot. Simmer on low partially covered for about 3 hours. Remove the carcass and bones with tongs. All meat would have fallen off at this point, so discard all bones at this time.
Strain the broth using a mesh strainer. Pick through removing any edible meat to use in the soup. Discard the rest of the solids including bouquet garni.

For the Soup:

Wipe clean the Dutch oven or large pot that you used to make the broth above.
Heat butter or olive oil in the pot on medium high heat.
Add diced carrots, celery, and onion and cook stirring often for about 5 to 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
Add strained chicken stock, cubed chicken, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper. Check your seasonings at this point, you may require additional salt and pepper. This depends on how much water was used initially for making the broth. Gradually add in additional seasonings if required, tasting after each addition.
Simmer for about 30 minutes. Use a bread slice or two to skim the fat that has raised to the top of the broth.
Add egg noodles to the pot just before serving. Simmer until noodles are cooked and serve. If you add the noodles too early before serving, they will get soggy and limp.

Comments:

* Bouquet Garni - I used to be intimidated by this term. However, it is just simply herbs bundled together. If using fresh herbs you simply bundle and tie the herbs together with a piece of string. If using dried herbs, cut a 3" to 4" square piece of cheese cloth, place dried herbs in the middle, bring the 4 corners together and tie closed with kitchen string.

- You can prepare the diced vegetables for the soup while the broth is simmering. When peeling the carrots and onion for the soup, add the peeled skins and any celery leaves while the broth (stock) is simmering.

- We really like the Ronzoni brand Healthy Harvest Whole Grain extra wide noodles in this soup.

Tips:

- None

>>><<<