Adaptable chicken soup
My Mister is in the kitchen now, making his typical Sunday dinner. I am feeling a little meh today, so the Mister has decided it is a chicken soup day. Authentic chicken soup is probably the first recipe I taught the Mister to make when we were first married, and since then, he has been the soupmeister ever since.
I can hear him in the kitchen chopping the onion and celery, waiting for the bacon at the bottom of the stock pot to brown, and I am instantly transported back to Seattle, early summer mornings, up before Grandpa left for work, watching Mom and Grandma wrestle for hob space, and smelling the bacon fumes that covered the whole house. Later on, we would sneak back upstairs to our bedroom area the finished attic, and inhale the trapped warm air, still redolent with bacon. The same smell would wake me up in the loft of their beach house, wafting into our dreams until the sizzle of the cooking, the clinking of the dishes and the smell of Grandpa’s coffee filtered through enough to wake everyone. Even a touch under the weather, it is amazing how fast that smell can dissipate thirty years.
Chicken soup is one of those basic dishes that can be transformed into a plethora of meals. The basics of soup are pretty much the same: start with moisture, add root veggies and spice, add more liquid and then put in your feature. It is a template for so much.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup sliced celery
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
6 cups low-salt chicken broth
4 cups diced peeled baking potato
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups diced roasted chicken
1 cup evaporated skim milk
2 cups uncooked wide egg noodles
Heat olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add chopped onion, carrots, celery and garlic clove; sauté five minutes.
Sprinkle flour, oregano, thyme and poultry seasoning over vegetables and cook one minute. Stir in broth, potato and salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, partially covered 25 minutes or until potato is tender.
Add roasted chicken, milk, and noodles and cook 10 minutes or until noodles are tender. Garnish with fresh thyme, if desired.
This is a fantastic basic soup recipe. Once you are comfortable making it, start experimenting. Add cream instead of milk. Use the bones of the roasted chicken along with celery, onions, and bouquet garni to make your own chicken stock.
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