Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

Warming chicken noodle soup.  Now this is comfort food.  You won't find this soup listed on a "super foods" list.  But it will make you feel good during the cold winter months.  IF you just happen to live in an Arctic belt.

Why is it that soup takes me two days to make?  I HATE it when someone says, "let's do something simple like soup".   Are you kidding me?  I obviously need other recipes that do not require one making their own stock, which IS delicious by the way.

I have served this soup for several years on Halloween.  I started to have several friends just on Halloween.  My daughter would get calls from boys asking to go trick or treating with her just so they could come over for chicken noodle soup.  Last year they were all in their first year of college and still managed to be around on Halloween for soup.  What will this year bring?

Remember you already have chicken stock made and in your refrigerator.  If you don't here is the link:  Chicken Stock.  Pull the chicken stock out of the refrigerator and make sure you skim off any fat that may have hardened on the top.  Pour it into a large stock pot.

You will need one rib of celery, broken in half, an onion, 4 whole cloves, and one carrot peeled and broken in half.  Of course you can cut the celery and carrot.  I just break them and toss them in the pot.

Take those 4 cloves and stick them into the onion.

Toss in the celery...

...and the carrot...

...and the onion that is stuck with the cloves.

Place the stock pot over medium heat and bring to a simmer.  Cover the pot, turn the heat to low and let it simmer for at least 2 hours.

After two hours remove the lid and check to see if the vegetables are soft.  They should be because they have been simmering for 2 hours.


Just take a look at how clear and gorgeous the stock is.  Just bragging.

Here's the weird part.  Remove the carrot, celery and onion and put in a blender.

I started pureeing the vegetables is this soup because when the kids were young they didn't like chunks in anything!  So I pureed the vegetables and they didn't know they were there.  They had so idea that I even used vegetables.  Oh, don't tell the husband that never reads this blog...I don't think that he knows my little secret yet! 

Add some of the chicken stock into the blender.

Slowly turn the blender on and puree.

I make sure that the stock is now smooth.  NO chunks.

We are now going to make a roux.  That is a combination of flour and butter.

In a large pot melt the butter.

Add the flour.

Whisk the two together.  It's ok if if browns a bit.  I like the nutty flavor of browned butter.

Pour all of the stock into the roux including the blended vegetables.

Stir until smooth and bring to a simmer.

Add 1 cup of heavy cream.

Stir.

You are REALLY going to have to season this mixtures.  If you remember, I didn't add any salt to the stock while it was cooking.  I just kind of like to wait to season my food.  I hate it when I get food too salty. 

You will probably need to add at least 2 teaspoons of salt. 

Several grinds of black pepper.  I love fresh ground pepper.  I'm not fond of the canned stuff.  In fact I don't even have a can of that stuff in my kitchen.  Nope!  No use for that stuff...not that I have found anyway.

TASTE the soup.  This is very important.  You need to know if the seasonings need to be adjusted.  You obviously can't take out the salt once it's in the soup, so start with a little and go from there.

Bring the soup to a low simmer.  It's time to add the fresh Homemade Egg Noodles.   You will notice that I haven't pre-cooked the noodles.  This isn't necessary when they are fresh.  If you are using dried noodles, you will definitely need to cook them according the the package directions.

Gently stir.

Add about 2 cups of cut cooked chicken.  I saved this from the chicken stock that I made. 

I like to add the chicken right before serving.  After adding, gently stir.  I'll tell you why.  If you don't, the chicken will break up and you will have tiny shreds of chicken throughout the soup.  That doesn't look so good.  So be gentle with your chicken.

Fresh herbs.  This is what makes the soup a bowl of heaven.  I like to add fresh thyme, rosemary and parsley.  Sometimes I use a pinch of dried thyme. 

The amounts are based on preference.  I had two tablespoons of parsley, two teaspoons of rosemary and thyme.

This was Tiffany's favorite meal while growing up.  I knew I had succeeded as a culinary mom when she said, "Oh I love it when I get a bite of rosemary".  YES!!!

Once again, GENTLY stir. 

At this point I don't bring the soup to a full boil.  I just let it barely simmer.

This is a very rich, wholesome soup.  When I hear the words "comfort food", this immediately pops into my head. 

Creamy chicken noodle soup.  Worth the effort.


Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup


3 quarts Chicken Stock
1 carrot, peeled
1 celery rib
1 small onion
4 whole cloves
¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Homemade Egg Noodles
2 cups cooked cubed chicken

In a large pot, add chicken broth, carrot, celery and onion that has been stuck with the 4 who cloves. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer for about 2 hours or until the vegetables are soft. Remove the carrot, celery and onion and place in a blender. Add 2 cups of the chicken stock and blend until smooth. Set aside.

In a large pot, melt butter. Whisk in flour. Pour in the remaining chicken stock and the blended vegetables. Stir until smooth. Bring the mixture back to a low simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add noodles and cooked chicken. Stir very gently. Add fresh herbs right before serving. Makes 6-8 servings

 
The husband that never reads this blog thinks my chicken noodle soup could win awards.  Ohhh, he is sweet even if he likes fake maple syrup and hates squash.
 
I'll keep him.

Homemade Egg Noodles

I always make homemade egg noodles for my chicken noodle soup.  You can purchase your favorite noodle, if you want.  This just happens to be my favorite noodle for homemade soup.  It's just an extra step that will take you about 15 minutes prep time. 








The recipe is so simple.  You will need all-purpose flour, milk, an egg and salt.  That's it!

I like to use a food processor fitted with a metal blade.  You can do this by hand and knead the dough, if you would like...but why?

In the bowl of a food process or add the flour.

Add a large pinch of salt.

Add 2-3 tablespoons of milk.

And an egg.

Turn on the food processor and process until the dough forms into a ball.  If it doesn't turn into a ball then add more milk 1 teaspoon at a time.

Remove the ball of dough from the food processor.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let set for at least 15 minutes.

This will relax the gluten and make it easier to roll out the noodles.

After the dough has rested, unwrap.

Cut the dough into half.

Coat each half generously with flour.

I'm cheating.  I'm using a pasta roller.  LOVE it!  You can roll this dough out by hand and cut into strips for the noodles.  That is how I started making the noodles pre food processor years.  It works and isn't that bad to do.

If you have a pasta machine, hooray! 








Following the directions from the manufacturer, roll dough beginning at the #1 on the dial.

I continue to roll the noodle dough through the machine until I have reached the #5.

I like a thicker egg noodle.  It makes a very hearty soup.

  

After you have reached your desired thickness, flour the sheet of dough generously with flour on both sides.

Hopefully your machine cuts into fettuccine strips.  If it does, roll through to cut the dough into noodles.  If you don't have a machine I like to roll the dough up jelly roll style then make slices along the dough to create noodles.

Cut the long strips into shorter noodles.  I like my noodles about 4-5 inches in length.  You can make your noodles longer or shorter...I don't care.

The finished product!  The noodles are now ready to be dropped into the hot simmering soup.  It only takes a few minutes for the noodles to cook.


Homemade Egg Noodles

1 cup all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
2-3 tablespoons of milk
1 egg


In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, add all of the ingredients.  Turn the food processor on an process until the dough forms into a ball.  If the ball does not form, add more milk 1 teaspoon at a time.  Remove from food processor and wrap in plastic wrap.  Allow dough to rest to at least 15 minutes.  Roll out the dough on a flour surface and cut into strips.  Or roll through a pasta machine and cut into strips.


That wasn't so bad!  By the time you boil the water and cook purchased "homemade egg noodles", you can have this dough made and the noodles rolled out.

So worth the time.