First, we start with our aromatics: onion, carrots and celery. This is about the only way I like celery, souped up! And, of course, you can't have a decent soup without copious amounts of butter. You will NEVER find yellow plastic, I mean margarine, in my kitchen!
Chop up your veggies and get them simmering and sparking in the butter. Medium heat is enough to get them started. We aren't making Cajun chicken soup!
Add salt and pepper to taste. Remember, this is soup, so use a little more than you think you should!
Let them sweat away in the butter bath until they change color.
While this was happening I put two loaves of 100% Honey Whole Wheat bread together to rise.
Next, fetch from your freezer the liquid gold. "What is the liquid gold?" you ask. Ahhhh, the liquid gold is the pan drippings and juices and chicken meat from your last roasted chicken that you saved and froze for just such a time as this! Dry, hard cubes of chicken flavoring...eat your heart out!
Just drop it right in there and let it melt away and savor the aroma!
There we have all the nice chicken bits.
Ahhhh, now that looks divine!
Now you want to add some water, because that much chicken goodness undiluted is toxic. Add some, see how it looks, maybe add some more. It's up to you and your kettle.
For seasoning, I use three bay leaves. Just throw them in...
Run down to your freezer and fetch your bag of homemade egg noodles. What? You don't have bags of homemade noodles in your freezer? You poor thing, we'll have to show you how to have these little babies on hand for the best fettucini and soup you've ever eaten. If you must, buy noodles, but make sure they are egg noodles! You, and your soup, deserve it.
Simply egg and flour...yummmm.
Add the noodles and then add more water, if needed. Enough so that you can't see a noodle poking out of the soup. These babies will expand and take in water. A fact my dad did not know during his first attempt at beef noodle soup. We ate beef noodle porridge that night!
Let the soup bubble, but don't boil it. Egg noodles cook rather quickly so stick around the soup pot. Notice the seeming reduction in liquid...
When ready to serve, pull out the bay leaves. No one likes to chew on pieces of hay in their soup.
Hmmmm, didn't I put three leaves in here? Well, I guess I'll offer a prize to whomever gets the third bay leaf in their bowl!
Here's my supper: soup, apple, and onion parmesan biscuits. The biscuits were an experiment, a successful one at that, so I'll share them the next time I make them.
The money shot. This soup is absolutely wonderful, I guarantee it! It will make a lame man walk! Or, at the very least, get you a backrub from the hubby...ENJOY!
This soup sounds delicious, especially homemade noodles. Wish I was that lucky! My husband says that whoever finds the bayleaf has to kiss the cook!
ReplyDeleteLooks so good! I really like the step-by-step instructions and pictures.
ReplyDelete