After a brutal work week, two children with colds and headaches, and the general malaise I feel in pregnancy, it was time to park it on the couch for a day. We’re watching movies, and drinking mugs of Sleepytime tea with milk and honey.
And, of course, we’re eating chicken soup.
I am passionate about fresh chicken soup. My recipe is adapted from a method I learned making gumbo — fresh parsley, celery, onion and garlic are cooked together as the base. It’s green and delicious and fresh.
Even when money has been very tight for us, the kids — and I when I am pregnant — eat only organic meat. This is especially important to me when it comes to soups and stews because you are boiling them and getting everything out of them. I don’t want the children getting antibiotics or growth hormones.
A small organic local chicken was $8. It’s much meatier, more flavorful, and it contains no growth hormones or antibiotics. With the rest of the ingredients — all local, all organic — the bill came to about $30. A lot more than Campbell’s, but not so much when you think of it as dinner for four people with leftovers.
I use organic chicken broth rather than water to cook the chicken in because the end flavor is so good. It’s kind of cheating, though. Just FYI.
So here goes.
Home Made Chicken Doodle Soup
1 organic free range chicken
3 onions
1 bunch (about seven) organic carrots
1 head organic celery
1 head garlic
1 lemon, plus juice from 1 lemon
1 bunch fresh parsley
crushed black pepper
bay leaf
2 containers organic chicken broth
1 pound pappardelle pasta
Salt and pepper to taste
1) Wash the chicken and cut into pieces. Dry. Put all but the breast in a large stockpot over medium heat. (Reserve the breast in a plate in the fridge.) Note: I also rinse the giblets and use those in the stock, all but the liver which adds a bitter taste.
2) Peel one onion and 1/2 head of garlic. Cut onion in half, smash the garlic cloves a little, and add all to the pot. Add a few chunks each, washed carrot and celery. Scrub the lemon, then cut in half and add it to the pot, along with a handful of the parsley, bay leaf and crushed pepper. Cook about 30 minutes, or until the chicken releases its juices. (Note: pepper is a nice addition at this stage because it serves as an aromatic and infuses the cooking oils. Salt is a very bad addition at this stage because as the soup cooks down it condenses, and the salt will be far too strong. So add salt to taste at the very end and not before.)
3) Add the chicken breast back, and then the chicken broth, plus any additional water needed to cover.
3) Boil about 20 minutes, or until chicken breast is cooked through. Remove all chicken to a cutting board, let cool while broth continues to simmer. Remove meat from bones, add bones back to broth, simmer.
4) Pick over chicken meat removing all fat, tiny piece of bone, or anything else that you don’t want to eat. Cut it into bite-sized pieces and put it into the refrigerator.
5) Prep remaining vegetables. Cut celery, carrots, onion into chunks. (Note: organic carrots don’t need to be peeled. Just wash them carefully and cut off bases and tips.) Crush and chop remaining garlic and parsley.
6) Skim the broth. Pour through strainer into a large bowl. Discard vegetables and bones. Skim fat, reserving 2 tablespoons for cooking.
7) Rinse out stock pot and place on burner over medium heat. Add chicken fat and onions, cooking until onions are translucent. Then add parsley, celery and garlic. When celery is soft, add carrots. Grind fresh pepper over it.
8.) Add skimmed broth back and bring to a boil. Skim foam off the top.
9) Break pappardelle into smaller chunks. Cook in salted water until just soft, and then add them to the broth. Continue to boil until the vegetables and pasta are completely cooked. Add back chicken.
10) Season with salt, a little more pepper, and the juice of a lemon.
That soup looks so amazing, especially to me since I’ve been laying about for the last 4 days with the flu and a cold. I will definitely have to make that soup pronto.
Oh that looks so good. I will have to try it one of these days when I am feeling ambitious! Feel better!
Thanks for the recipe, but you know a real friend would of brought me some.
Feel better soon guys.
Thanks for the recipe. I’ll have to give that a try. By the way, I like the new picture of you and the girls on the side bar!
I’ve had Liz’s cooking and it’s hands down the best I’ve had. Girlfriend knows her way around a hot stove. I would never in a zillion years work so hard for a pot of soup or any other plate of food but damn I appreciate people who do.
Chicken soup is soooooo good! And I know what you mean about the organic meat, and free range makes it even better. I used to raise chickens in my back yard, and there is nothing better. I know the coyotes liked them, too.
Yummy!
But I dont understand why you buy chicken broth instead of making it yourself?
My recipe:
Just keep the chicken bones, boil (then simmer) with onion, garlic, herbs, celery and maybe 1 carrot, for about 1hour
Then pass the broth through a sieve tamis.
You’ll have a delicious chicken broth you can freeze and use whenever you need it
Fast, easy to make, and the taste difference is incredible
Ang — If you lived near me, I’d totally send you home with some. Erik — it’s amazing how much better heritage meats taste. The price is horrific. But it’s so much healthier and tastes so much better. Mauvetoo — I do make the broth. I just boil the chicken in organic broth rather than water, which makes more soup with a strong flavor and less chicken. As I say, it’s cheating, but the result is delicious and feeds the four of us for a couple of days.
CONGRATUFREAKINGLATIONS!!!!!! i hope everything goes well for you and your family
also, this looks like the best chicken noodle soup i’ve ever seen, so i will definitely have to try it out.
We actually keep little tupperwares of chicken stock in the freezer for all sorts of things – they make soup much more quick.
We have a roast (organic, free range) chicken roughly once a week. We save the carcass in the freezer, afterwards, and when we have 3-5 of them, we throw them in a pot with water, ginger, veggies, etc., and boil the heck out them. Takes a couple of hours, so we do it in the evening after dinner or on a weekend afternoon. Cool, skim, store in little containers in the freezer – and then you’ve got instant sauce base or chicken soup liquid when you need it.
I love chicken soup recipes! I can’t wait to try this one..
We also buy organic meats, as well as dairy and most vegetables. The taste is worlds better, especially with grass-fed beef!
It is amazing the near arguments I get into about why go organic with some friends and family. They just figure we’re hippies or into fads. Whatever.
Making chicken stock with chicken broth is way more flavorful. Yay! New recipes make me happy!
I made this today! Yes, it took all day. That was with my 3 month old and a helper.. and it still took me that long. Now that I know what to do, it won’t take me near as long next time.
It’s delicious!
i love all sorts of soup but my most favorite soup is none other chicken or beef soup.’”-