Chicken Noodle Soup
Chicken Soup Tip: Frank Davis, a New Orleans chef, says that the secret to really good chicken soup is to beat 2 eggs with the juice of 1 lemon (about 2 tablespoons juice). Then temper the eggs (by adding small amounts of the hot chicken broth to the beaten eggs a little at a time to bring up the temperature of the eggs without curdling them). Then rapidly pour the egg mixture into the stockpot with the soup and whisk it in well. Do this shortly before serving. All that’s left is to heat the soup to serving temperature.
Cuisine Recipes suggests serving Chicken Noodle Soup with Quesadillas made with sliced mushrooms, minced garlic, diced tomatoes, shredded Swiss cheese and minced scallions.
Chicken Noodle Soup
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 small carrot, thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
6 cups homemade or low-sodium canned chicken broth
1/2 cup water
4 teaspoons salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 pound egg noodles (preferably the curly wide ones), store-bought or homemade
1-1/4 cups shredded cooked chicken (meat from about one breast)
1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley leaves, for garnish
1 tablespoon fresh dill fronds, for garnish
Put the onion, carrots, celery, thyme, parsley, chicken broth and water in a medium pot. Season with the salt and pepper to taste, and bring to a simmer over medium high heat. Simmer until the vegetables are almost tender, about 5 minutes.
Add the noodles and cook until tender, 5 to 8 minutes (depending upon the size of the noodles). Add the chicken, warm through, and then adjust the seasoning if necessary with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with parsley and dill leaves.
Paula Deen's Chicken Noodle Soup
Stock:
1 (2 1/2 to 3-pound) fryer chicken, cut up
3 1/2 quarts water
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 bay leaves
3 chicken bouillon cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Soup:
2 cups sliced carrots
2 cups sliced celery, with leafy green tops
2 1/2 cups uncooked egg noodles
1 cup sliced mushrooms
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/3 cup cooking sherry
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 cup grated Parmesan, optional
3/4 cup heavy cream, optional
Seasoning salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Crusty French bread, for serving
For the stock: add all ingredients to a soup pot. Cook until chicken is tender, about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove chicken from pot and set aside to cool. Remove and discard bay leaves and onion. You should have approximately 3 quarts of stock. When chicken is cool enough to touch, pick bones clean, discarding bones, skin, and cartilage. Set chicken aside.
For the soup: bring stock back to a boil, add carrots, and cook for 3 minutes. Add celery and continue to cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Add egg noodles and cook according to directions on package. When noodles are done, add chicken, mushrooms, parsley, sherry and rosemary. Add Parmesan and cream, if using. Cook for another 2 minutes. Adjust seasoning, if needed, by adding seasoning salt and pepper.
Enjoy along with a nice hot crusty loaf of French bread.
