Old-Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup – Recipe!

Sometimes doing things the long way pays off, especially when it comes to cooking.  The process of creating a recipe from scratch gives one a deep sense of pride and accomplishment, or at least for me it does.  That is the case with Chicken Soup because cooking a whole bird, and shredding the meat by hand, and using the remaining broth just tends to taste better.  The process isn’t daunting, but satisfying, and leaves you with a meal worth enjoying.

There are many quick soup ideas to make in a jiffy, however, making soup from scratch really isn’t more work, it just takes a little time for a whole chicken to simmer, and to slice up a few vegetables, which you have to do in most recipes anyway.  Using pantry items as an assist, like a chicken bouillon cube, and broth to enhance the already flavorful liquid is just smart, and builds flavor.  Extra wide egg noodles adds the perfect balance, and tasty texture we all love.

Ingredients

3 pound chicken, organic preferably

5 large carrots, peeled

6 large stalks of celery

1 white onion, peeled and quartered

5 black whole peppercorns

2 bay leaves

1 quart chicken broth, organic preferably

1 chicken bouillon cube

8 ounces fresh wide pasta noodles or dried egg noodles

salt

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

(Serves 6-8)

To Prepare:

1. Slice two carrots and 3 celery stalks into 2-inch wide pieces and place in a stock pot.  Add onion, chicken, peppercorns, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt and bay leaves, cover with water.  Place over medium-high heat until water begins to simmer, then turn to low heat and cover with lid ajar.
2. Simmer chicken for 40 minutes, then remove lid and turn off heat.  Remove chicken from broth and set aside, until cool enough to shred.  Using a strainer, scoop out vegetables, bay leaves and peppercorns, discard.  Remove skin from chicken and shred meat and place meat back into broth.
3. Slice remaining carrots and celery into 1/2 inch pieces, add to remaining liquid.  Add chicken broth, bouillon cube and 1 teaspoon salt to broth and turn heat back on to medium-high.  When lightly boiling, cook for 20 minutes until vegetables are tender.  Add noodles and continue to cook for 6-10 minutes, depending upon the noodles you use.
4. Ladle soup into bowls and top with fresh parsley.  Soup will freeze in containers for several months.  Enjoy!