When I was growing up, there was always one dish my mom fell back on for lunch in cold weather. I make it a little differently than she did, but I think mine is every bit as good as hers. And I get max value for my dollar out of the Chicken! It takes a little work, but there’s nothing else quite like it!
A Winter Classic: Chicken Noodle Soup!
This is my start-from-scratch Chicken soup. In fact, I start with a whole chicken. This soup sets the stage for several other meals later in the week, and I use every bit of the bird but the bones. I roast the Chicken first, to build flavour.
What you need…
1 Whole Chicken, about 3 lb. / 1.5 kg
1 box (1 qt. / 1 L) Chicken Stock
1 medium Carrot
1 small Onion
1 stake Celery
Salt and Pepper
2 cups / 500 ml Noodles, your choice, cooked
What you do…
Cut the chicken into 6 pieces: Breasts, Legs + Thighs and Wings. Set the Wings aside for later.
Salt and Pepper the Breasts and thigh-on Legs and roast skin-side up for about 40 minutes in a 375 F oven. Use any oven-safe pan you have that will hold all the chicken without the pieces touching.
While the Chicken is roasting, cube all the veggies about 1/4 in. – 1 cm. It’s a bit of a chore, but who among us can truthfully say they wouldn’t benefit from a little knife skills practice?
Get the Noodles cooking, too. You’ll want them just barely al dente, because they will cook some more in the Soup, later.
When the large Chicken pieces are roasted, set the Breasts and one thigh-on Leg aside to cool.
Remove the meat from the other Thigh and Leg and place in a large sauce pan.
Add the box of Chicken Stock, the raw Wings and the cubed Veggies. The Wings will add even more flavour!
Bring the soup mixture to the boil, then turn down immediately to a slow but steady simmer. Simmer covered until the veggies are fork tender.
When ready to serve, remove the Wings and discard. Add the cooked noodles in equal portions to four soup bowls and ladle Soup over them, making sure every bowl gets some of each Veggie and the Chicken mat.
Down the road…
You can slice the Breasts for Sandwiches, shred them for Tacos or Burritos, or even cube them as the Protein for a quick Pasta dinner. The extra Leg and Thigh can be stripped of their meat, which can likewise be employed in any number of ways in the coming days.
And that’s your Week-In-A-Chicken recipe round-up! The recipe can be multiplied as large as you want, to serve as many diners as you need to feed.
~ Maggie J.