Chicken Noodle Soup

Josh has been asking me to make him a homemade chicken noodle soup for quite some time now, and I finally did it. I'm not the biggest fan of chicken noodle soup - It is not my first choice when it comes to soup selections - but he has been asking for a long time, and I finally decided to dive into the challenge. Most chicken noodle soups are broth-y and mild in flavor... Josh asked for a thick, creamy chicken noodle soup. So lets get started.

I decided that if I am going to make chicken noodle soup, I should make the broth from scratch. So, I found a recipe for both the broth and soup... and then tweaked the soup recipe a bit. The recipe called for a 3 1/2 lb chicken. However, I bought a 7 lb chicken and decided to double the broth recipe. The 7 lb chicken + vegetables, didn't fit in one pot, so I cut the chicken in half. After running the knife through the vegetables a couple times, divided & tossed them into the two pots.

In each pot, I added fresh thyme & basil leaves and a teaspoon of black peppercorns. I placed both pots on the stove over medium-high heat and added cold water to each. I slowly brought the pots to a boil, then lowered the heat with them slightly covered for an hour and half. 

Meanwhile, I chopped the vegetables that would be going in to the chicken noodle soup: onions, carrots, celery, minced garlic & a chopped jalapeño {an addition I added to give it heat, which I know Josh likes} Then put the vegetables in a bowl along with fresh thyme and bay leaf.

Then I chilled the wine. I decided on a Sauvignon Blanc & this bottle caught my eye... Gato Negro. I thought it was perfect choice for an October evening with a bowl of hot chicken noodle soup.

I had plenty of time to spare, so I called my Mom and we yapped for a little while. It was nice catching up, while the pots on the stove gave off a wonderful smell that warmed the house.



When the chicken was done cooking, I took it out of the broth and placed it on a cutting board. The chicken was falling off the bones - oh! so very tender! Then I strained the broth from the vegetable solids. The broth turned out really good.

I did the same for the second pot, only after I strained the broth, I placed the bowl of broth into the sink, which I had filled with cold water, and whisked the broth to cool it. Then I transferred the cooled broth to containers and popped them in the fridge.

On to the soup! My vegetables are already chopped and ready to go. So, I drizzled olive oil in a soup pot and tossed in the vegetables and let them cook for about 6 minutes. Meanwhile, I took some of the vegetables that were used in the broth and blended them with half of the broth in a blender. Josh had requested a creamy soup, so I figured this would thicken the soup up a bit. When 6 minutes was up, I poured in the vegetable blend and the remaining broth and brought it to a boil. To finish off the soup, I added the noodles and later folded in the chicken. {I used more then the recipe called for, because Josh said he wanted a lot of chicken}

{I took a bowl of soup and bread over to my Dad}

As a side for the soup, I sliced a couple pieces of italian bread, seasoned them with italian-garlic seasoning and mozzarella cheese and tossed them in the oven to bake.

 The soup was very thick and I would almost consider it a stew. After all the time I put into this soup, I was looking forward to sitting down with a bowl. First bite... sheer disappointment...bland. When I thought back to my process, I realized I was not seasoning as I cooked. {I know better!} I didn't even finish my bowl. Josh also thought the soup was bland... but he did have two bowls and finished mine....So, it couldn't have been terrible, right?

So, now I have to decide if I will try chicken noodle soup again. I'm not a fan in general, as I've said, and Josh isn't much help in telling me what he wants in a chicken noodle soup... sigh... I'm so disappointed.