Chicken Soup for Sanity

Why does no one mention the fact that Britney Spears had two toddlers at the time of her nervous breakdown? Doesn’t anyone think that perhaps having two very small children, going through a divorce and being a world famous pop star at the same time might just be a tad too much pressure for anyone? Maybe she shaved her head so at least she didn’t have to deal with washing her hair on top of everything else.  That’s my theory. And she probably didn’t know how to make chicken soup, either. I think I might have gone at least partially insane by now if it were not for chicken soup.

Chicken soup solves a lot of my problems. It doesn’t require a lot of hands-on time, it is nutritious, it can be used for lunch or dinner, you can freeze it, and incredibly, my kids seem to really like it.  Finally, it is a good way to use a leftover roast chicken. You can make chicken soup in the slow cooker if you want to leave it to simmer all day while you are out and about, or you can make it in a pot if you have less time.  There are a lot of themes and variations on chicken soup. I’m going to share my version. I will say part of the process is a little messy. I hope you can tolerate that because I think it's worth the result.

As usual, I will present alternative ways of approaching this classic. The first area you need to think about is the broth. I’m actually a bit of a purist about this but I will still totally respect you if you decide making the broth is just a bit too overachiever for your taste. That’s cool. You can always used canned broth (but I would recommend watering it down just a little) if you like.  Also, I don't like garlic or parsnips in my broth.  I normally LOVE garlic, but, in this case but I think it adds a funny taste, and parsnips make it too sweet. Just my opinion, of course, but this is my blog and I get to do whatever I want.

You will need:
a big soup pot
some sort of skimmer

2 carrots

2 pieces of celery

1.5 small yellow onions

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon of dried thyme or about 4 sprigs of fresh

8 sprigs of fresh flat parsley (sometimes called Italian parsley)

2-3 cups egg noodles

1 tablespoon salt (I really like sea salt)

1/2 tsp black peppercorns

Pinch of red pepper if you are making this for adults (it really perks it up, but probably best to skip with sensitive kids)

Here’s how to make the broth:

Take a chicken carcass leftover from Roast Chicken Night, or a whole raw chicken (or pieces of chicken, whatever you want, but the broth turns out way better if there are bones and skin involved) and put it in a big ole soup pot. 

Add water until it is pretty much covered. Or if you are nervous about what is the right amount of water, measure out 10 cups of water and add it. 

Add one unpeeled carrot, cut up into a few big pieces.

Add two pieces of celery, cut up into a few big pieces

Add one small yellow onion, quartered. Just throw it in there, skin and all

Add one bay leaf

Add 1 tablespoon of dried thyme or about 4 sprigs of fresh
4 sprigs of the parsley

1 tablespoon salt (I really like sea salt)

1/2 tsp black peppercorns

Pinch of red pepper if you are making this for adults

Bring to a boil. Then turn the burner down to low, cover it and simmer for 2 hours or so on low. You should be seeing one bubble come up at time, not much more than that. It’s going to smell amazing and drive you wild with desire. The longer it simmers, the richer the broth, so it is up to you. But you should aim for 2 hours at least. 


Once you have determined that your broth is ready, or more realistically when you have a few minutes, you are going to take out all the ingredients. Most cookbooks start talking about cheesecloth and pressing and stuff, but I just use this big skimmer thing, and take everything out. Put the chicken carcass on a plate. You can throw out the veggies/herbs/peppercorns. WHAT?!!! You may say. That is SO WASTEFUL. I guess it is, but sometimes it is exciting to be a rebel. It is possible to make the soup all at once by just peeling and chopping the veggies and simply fishing out the herbs and peppercorn, but they get a little mushy. Can you trust me on this one? Thanks. 


Now, let the chicken pieces/carcass/whatever cool off a little bit. 

Take this time to peel and dice a carrot, and dice stalk of celery, and half an onion (Some notes: This may be too much onion for you, so use your discretion. You can add more carrots, celery, a parsnip other veggies if you wish. Peas work well. I find broccoli changes the flavor of the soup though. ) Throw the pieces into the remaining broth.

Take the chicken carcass and cut off the remaining meat. Cut the meat into bite size pieces and put it back into the pot.  Put the veggies in the pot. 


Bring to a boil again. Add 2-3 cups egg noodles and boil according to the package directions (usually about 10 min.) I add 3 cups and it is very noodle dense. Taste to see if there is enough salt. I usually add more at this point. Chop up the remaining parsley, and add it at the end for a flash of green and flavor. 

Serve it up with some bread and salad. I hope you enjoy it!
Christina