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| My go-to recipe when someone is sick. |
INGREDIENTS:
Chicken or chicken carcass (Chicken bones and skin left over from roasted chicken)
Chicken Bouillon
1 or 2 pkg Mrs. Weiss’ KLUSKI Noodles (or any pkg of noodles)
3-6 carrots
1-2 stalks celery, preferably with leaves
1 onion (optional)
Juice of one lemon (optional but important)
Salt and pepper
Cover clean chicken or carcass with water and boil at least an hour, or simmer all afternoon.
Strain broth into another pan. Add enough water to make a large pot of broth about 2/3 full. Debone chicken meat, even if it’s just a little from the carcass, and save in a bowl to add at end. Be careful to keep little bones out of the meat you save.
Taste broth and see how flavorful it is. You will likely need to add bouillon and salt and pepper. When I boil a carcass I usually add about 1/3 c or more of bouillon after I have strained the broth off, because there is less flavor in the carcass than the whole chicken. Be sure to add a good shake-shake-shake of black pepper and maybe more salt than you might think. Your own mouth is your best judge, so taste as you go.
Strain broth so all bones, skin and meat are removed. Bring prepared broth to a full boil.
ADD to broth:
Leafy stalks of celery. I always save the inside leafy parts of a stalk of celery in a baggie in my crisper. Just dump a few of them in the pot, whole or cut up.
A whole cleaned onion. Or a couple whole green onions. (optional)
Let these boil while you peel your carrots, or fold a batch of laundry… maybe 10-30 minutes.
Then add:
Thinly sliced, cleaned carrots, maybe 4 or 5 carrots
1 8 oz. bag Kluski noodles (these noodles take around 15-18 minutes to cook, which is about how long it takes the carrots to cook. If you use other noodles that take a shorter time to cook, put the carrots in and boil them for a few minutes before you add the noodles.) I often use 2 bags of noodles if I have a big pot of broth.
Boil according to noodle package directions. Taste. Do not over boil, the noodles will get mushy. They continue to cook slightly after you turn off the stove.
Turn off stove when done. Add more bouillon if it’s bland. (Trick: If it is too salty, add a whole peeled potato. Remove the potato when done, it absorbs some of the salt)
Add meat.
Secret ingredient: Squeeze some lemon juice into broth. Like ½ lemon, or some from a jar, maybe 2-3 TBSP. This came from the Jewish mother of Barbara Jordon, a music friend from New York. The lemon and celery are the only things that I think set this soup apart. Otherwise, it’s just everyone’s basic chicken noodle soup, which isn’t bad either.
