December 20, 2011

chicken noodle soup

I brought dinner to a friend of mine this weekend whose husband is in the hospital for surgery. Even though I knew he wouldn't be eating the food I brought (he's still in the hospital) I thought some warm comfort food would be nice.

Bringing a meal to someone is always a challenge because you have to take into account several factors. Are they likely to enjoy this kind of food? How will it transfer from my house to theirs? Of course, you also don't want to overburden them with dishes to do, especially since if you're bringing dinner to someone they probably already have their hands full with a new baby or a sick family member. With this meal she only had to return the pot the soup came in. Not bad and I think they enjoyed the warmth of chicken noodle soup (along with some of my homemade rolls) on a chilly, winter night.
1 whole chicken, rinsed and cleaned (hate this part but it has to be done)
1 onion, cut into large chunks
1 rib of celery, cut into large chunks + 4 celery ribs, diced small (set aside)
1 carrot, cut into large chunks + 3 whole carrots, peeled and diced small (set aside)
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon dried parsley

Cover chicken with water in a large stock pot. Add onion, celery, carrot, bay leaves and salt and pepper (about a teaspoon of each). Simmer for two hours.

Remove chicken from broth and let cool. Discard vegetables, bay leaves and skim fat (I like to strain it). Skin chicken and remove meat from bones. Cut into bite-sized pieces. Season broth with a teaspoon of garlic salt, kosher salt, freshly ground pepper (remember you probably need quite a bit - it's a lot of broth!) and dried parsley. Add reserved diced celery and carrots. Simmer for about 20 minutes until vegetables are are slightly softened. Add chicken pieces and noodles (recipe below). Simmer for an additional 10 minutes until noodles are cooked. Season with salt and pepper as needed.

Noodles:
4 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Put flour into a medium to large bowl. Make a well in the center. Crack eggs into well and mix lightly with hands until combined. Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth (adding more flour if necessary - but be careful not to add to much). Let dough rest for about 10 minutes, covered, and then roll it out onto a well-floured surface as thin as you can get it to go (they plump a lot). Cut the noodles using a pizza cutter about 1/8 - 1/4 inch wide and 3 - 4 inches long.

*if you need pictures of step-by-step instructions to get a visual for how the dough should look, check out Pioneer Woman's post on homemade pasta.

4 comments:

  1. Hi Liz,
    I've "stalked" your blog for some time now... love it. ( :
    I just thought I'd tell you what we have done before when having the "dish dilema". Maybe you'll want to try it sometime. When I had my last child, my neighbor who was bringing me dinner came and got some of my dishes to make the food in. That way I didn't have to return any. With a pot of soup, you could also just pour it into one of her pots or containers when you dropped off the meal and taken your "dirty" pot home. Merry Christmas!

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  2. We certainly did love it. Chicken soup is the blankie of food--it just makes you feel better to have it. Thank you so much!

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  3. I made this for dinner last night and it was a-maaaaazing! Truly incredible!!! Though, I'm not sure how you stand that long in the kitchen, for when I was finished my feet were killing me!

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  4. okay... okay... love this recipe... but is there is way to do it "semi-homemade"? :) Particularly, the noodles?

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