Recipe: Chicken Noodle Soup

Not that you can’t find heat-and-eat soup in a can; but don’t you want something that’s homemade, has less salt, and only costs pennies per serving? Let me answer for you: YES, YOU DO!

Here’s a recipe for chicken noodle soup that’s as easy as it gets and is mmm mmm God Damn delicious!

I use different noodles, but this shows how delicious it can be...

INGREDIENTS

• Two bone-in chicken breasts
• 96 oz. of chicken broth (aseptic container or home-made preferred)
• 4 carrots (cut into “coins”)
• 4-5 celery ribs (chopped)
• 12 oz. Egg noodles – specifically “Kluski” noodles (they look like the noodles in the Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup can)
• Water
• Salt & pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. Rinse the chicken breasts with warm water, clean-off the extra fat and nonsense, and pat-dry with a paper towel. Place the chicken into a glass baking dish and roast in the oven for ~25 minutes or until cooked (may take longer depending on the shape of the breasts – check the temp with an instant read thermometer – 180 degrees for white meat chicken – or, cut-into the breast at 25 minutes. If it’s all “white,” then you’re good to go, otherwise cook for additional five minute intervals until done).
2. While the chicken is roasting, you can prep the veggies. Clean the celery and peel the carrots. Slice the vegetables into thin slices – remember: you’re going to have to fit this on a spoon.
3. Pour the chicken broth into a large stockpot (your largest) and set the flame to medium. Dump-in the vegetables. Bring the broth to a simmer – it’s not necessary to boil. In fact, try to hit 200 degrees (if possible) without ever getting to 212 (that’s the boiling point at sea level). The reason is that “boiling” is pretty destructive, and you’re trying to keep some delicate flavors alive.
4. Once the pot’s reached its target temperature, add the noodles and simmer for ~10 minutes or until the noodles are cooked.
5. At this point, the chicken should be done. Peel-off the skin and remove the meat from the bones. Cut that breast into small soup-sized pieces and add to the pot. If there are any “drippings” in the baking dish, toss those in as well – no use wastin’ all that good flavor!
6. Check the soup flavor – chances are, it needs salt – go ahead and add some. If the mix is a bit too strong, add some water – add as much as you like. That’s it – no brain surgery.

FAQs

• Aseptic container? >> That’s the “carton” of chicken broth you see at the store. It has a better flavor than the cans, which I find “tinny” for this recipe. The large boxes generally come-in 32 or 48 oz. sizes, so use two or three for this recipe. If you want to make home-made chicken stock, then more power to you. It’s something I haven’t made yet, and don’t really have the storage space to contain...
• Checking doneness of chicken >> If, for some reason, your chicken escapes the oven before it’s “completely” done, relax: it’s going to spend a little time in a pot of near-boiling broth/water; it won’t infect you with salmonella. But, you really are going to have to learn how to check a chicken’s doneness and the time/temp guidelines for meats – I mean, I’m not going to live as your culinary judo master forever, you know!
• 200 degrees? Are you serious? >> Yes. Like I said, you don’t want to vigorously boil the mixture, so try to keep it just under the boil. That’s called a “bare simmer” and it means that bubbles are just barely breaking the surface of the pot. If you live in the mountains and have altitude issues with the boiling temperature of water, then you’re on your own.
• This seems pretty bland >> Yeah, don’t go crazy and start adding a bunch of other weird shit to the pot – this is a recipe for a good honest bowl of chicken noodle soup – simple and good.