G
G
Guest
Guest
Nora
Dirty Pomegranate
- Joined
- May 7, 2002
- Posts
- 26,111
I don't normally use a recipe, but this is it more or less.
1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
3 carrots, sliced
3 celery stalks, broken into chunks
1 large onion, quartered
4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced a bit
10 whole black peppercorns (or ground if that's all you have...a tsp or so)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried rosemary
1-2 bay leaves
about 4-5 sprigs of parsley (or dried, doesn't really matter here)
whatever other herbs/spices you feel like putting in
(the above part isn't very precise, because it's just the stock and meat and will all be strained out later.)
For later:
3 more carrots, sliced neatly
2-3 more stalks of celery, sliced neatly
1 bag dried egg noodles
yet more salt & ground pepper to taste
The night before you want the soup, put the chicken, vegetables, herbs, salt & pepper in a really big pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer, skimming any foam and icky bits (if you want to...honestly? I don't bother and nobody knows the difference). Simmer until the chicken is cooked through and tender. This time varies depending on the amount of water and chicken. Add water if you need to to keep the chicken more or less covered.
Pull out the chicken pieces and set aside. When cool, shred the chicken into bite sized pieces, discarding all fat, bones and skin. I usually put the shredded chicken in a tupperware with a little of the stock to keep it moist overnight.
This is where it starts getting to be a pain in the ass. I usually hold a colander over the pot and use a slotted spoon to lift out the dead vegetables and then press the stock out of them using the back of the slotted spoon. Discard the dead veggies.
Strain the stock into another pot either through cheesecloth lining your colander, or if you don't have cheesecloth you can strain it through paper towels or coffee filters. Both of those methods take a long time, however. Also, I don't have two big enough pots, so I usually strain it into this HUGE water jug I have, then pour it back into the pot after I wipe out all the bits of dead herbs and pepper.
Put the strained stock into the refrigerator to chill overnight. Don't put the chicken in the pot yet, even though it's tempting to do so (because fat will cling to the meat and you want to defat the stock the next day.).
Day 2:
Skim the nasty, gross congealed fat off of the stock.
Boil the egg noodles separately. If you boil them in the stock and/or store the noodles in your soup, they'll soak up every bit of liquid and you'll have a tasty casserole. lol
Put your pretty sliced veggies into it (carrots about 5 minutes before celery) and cook until your veggies are almost to the point of being tender. Add your lovely shredded chicken bits and finish warming everything through.
Serve on top of the noodles, of course.
1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
3 carrots, sliced
3 celery stalks, broken into chunks
1 large onion, quartered
4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced a bit
10 whole black peppercorns (or ground if that's all you have...a tsp or so)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried rosemary
1-2 bay leaves
about 4-5 sprigs of parsley (or dried, doesn't really matter here)
whatever other herbs/spices you feel like putting in
(the above part isn't very precise, because it's just the stock and meat and will all be strained out later.)
For later:
3 more carrots, sliced neatly
2-3 more stalks of celery, sliced neatly
1 bag dried egg noodles
yet more salt & ground pepper to taste
The night before you want the soup, put the chicken, vegetables, herbs, salt & pepper in a really big pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to a simmer, skimming any foam and icky bits (if you want to...honestly? I don't bother and nobody knows the difference). Simmer until the chicken is cooked through and tender. This time varies depending on the amount of water and chicken. Add water if you need to to keep the chicken more or less covered.
Pull out the chicken pieces and set aside. When cool, shred the chicken into bite sized pieces, discarding all fat, bones and skin. I usually put the shredded chicken in a tupperware with a little of the stock to keep it moist overnight.
This is where it starts getting to be a pain in the ass. I usually hold a colander over the pot and use a slotted spoon to lift out the dead vegetables and then press the stock out of them using the back of the slotted spoon. Discard the dead veggies.
Strain the stock into another pot either through cheesecloth lining your colander, or if you don't have cheesecloth you can strain it through paper towels or coffee filters. Both of those methods take a long time, however. Also, I don't have two big enough pots, so I usually strain it into this HUGE water jug I have, then pour it back into the pot after I wipe out all the bits of dead herbs and pepper.
Put the strained stock into the refrigerator to chill overnight. Don't put the chicken in the pot yet, even though it's tempting to do so (because fat will cling to the meat and you want to defat the stock the next day.).
Day 2:
Skim the nasty, gross congealed fat off of the stock.
Boil the egg noodles separately. If you boil them in the stock and/or store the noodles in your soup, they'll soak up every bit of liquid and you'll have a tasty casserole. lol
Put your pretty sliced veggies into it (carrots about 5 minutes before celery) and cook until your veggies are almost to the point of being tender. Add your lovely shredded chicken bits and finish warming everything through.
Serve on top of the noodles, of course.
