7 June 2011

Homemade chicken noodle soup

If there is one meal that is guaranteed to warm you deep to your core on a cold winter's evening, it's soup. It doesn't really matter what it is, soup nourishes us in body and mind; we seem to have this understanding that soup is good for us.  And of course that is true, particularly soups that are based on stock made at home with bones and herbs.


I guess my favourite soup is one my mother used to make and it's the one I make most often during winter - beef with barley and vegetables. I love the way the barley thickens the stock and makes a hearty meal. But sometimes you don't feel like a thick soup, then the one that comes to mind is homemade chicken noodle soup. I had the remnants of the roast chicken I made for the picnic and not wanting to waste it, I popped it in a saucepan with some onion, celery, parsley and bay leaves and simmered it for two hours until the bits of flesh still attached the bones just fell off and the flavour was at its peak. After that is was just a simple matter of adding some leftover chicken meat, tasting for seasoning and adding salt and pepper.  Soup done.


But what about the noodles?  Well, I made them in my breadmixer and rolled them out with a rolling pin. I do have a pasta machine but for this small task, it's not worth it. 


EGG NOODLES RECIPE - enough for this soup and for one lasagne
250 grams or 8 oz plain\all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 fresh eggs
enough water to make a firm dough (about ½ cup). Add half, then in small portions until consistency it right.

Add the ingredients to your breadmixer and mix on the pasta setting (about 20 minutes).  If you don't have a breadmaker, mix it all by hand, add half the water, then add it in small amounts until you have the right consistency.  Knead for about eight minutes until the dough is smooth and pliable.


Put the dough in a plastic bag and place it in the fridge for an hour to rest.  Then, cut the dough in half - you'll have enough for a soup for four people and enough left over for two large lasagne sheets. Place the leftover dough in the same plastic bag you rested it in and store it in the freezer for another meal. Roll the dough out with a floured rolling pin until it's very thin. Cut it into short strips, or little squares that you can twist, and add them to the soup pot about 10 minutes before serving.

The noodles sink to the bottom but will rise again when they're cooked.  Just before serving the soup, add some fresh, finely chopped parsley.

Chicken soup is also known as Jewish penicillin because many wonderful Jewish mummas cook chicken soup when someone in the family is ill.  It's the soup you go to when you're feeling sick or when someone has the flu. It's a handy one to have in your recipe stash and the perfect meal for a cold winter's night. On the first night we ate this we had a piece of toast with it; and last night I made a small pot of milk rice which we had with canned pears. It was a delicious, frugal and simple meal.

I want to thank you all for the wonderful and interesting comments you leave here. I read every one of them. Some of them make me think more about what I've written or about the person who leaves them, but all of them are appreciated. I feel like I know some of you just by your comments. I am way behind answering my emails again, please forgive me if you've written and I've not replied.

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18 comments

  1. Morning!

    Chicken soup sounds like something Steve and I need at the moment. I'm on the road to recovery but still not quite there yet. Steve has come down with the cold too :(

    What is interesting about chicken like you said, is penicillin to some but my parents steer clear of anything chicken when anyone's sick with the flu. Chicken has been known to contain histamines, which triggers phlegm and/or coughing symptoms.

    I'm not quite sure which side of the fence I sit. Food for thought, nonetheless!

    x
    Jamie

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  2. I'm printing your egg noodle recipe off to try with our Chicken Noodle Soup recipe. Ours' is a bit different as we add carrots as well as the onion and celery. Both are delicious I'm sure. Here's the worst part - I've never even THOUGHT to make my own noodles - isn't that silly?

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  3. I just priced those noodles. Amazingly cheap!

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  4. Morning Jamie, Becky and Frog!

    Frogdancer, you're right, the entire meal is amazingly cheap. If you use the left overs of a roast chicken, it is one of the cheapest meals. It did Hanno and I for two meals.

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  5. we make this so often in the wintertime. I'm actually kind of hoping we'll get a cooler day here shortly because I've got a bit of a craving for it! But it's about 95* outside, with humidity at about 95 MILLION (JK LOL) here in Southern Minnesota so it probably won't be fitting. :)
    Unless I can somehow do it on the grill....
    :o)

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  6. Here in Pennsylvania, there is a traditional chicken corn soup, that is made very similarly to your chicken soup. It is so good on a cold day! I usually serve ours with cornbread, but garlic bread or plain toast would be lovely with it as well!

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  7. Thanks for that recipe Rhonda, learning how to make a fantastic chicken soup has been on my to do list for a while now.

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  8. Hi Rhonda,
    I Didn't realize pasta was so easy to make. Thanks for educating me. Now I have to try it. Your soup looks yummy.

    Deb

    www.primrosehappysnapper.blogspot.com

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  9. Now Rhonda if you want to drive down with some of that for my lunch I can give you directions ... :) I have everyone's soup packed on this freezing cold day!

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  10. Chicken soup with home made noodle soup is one of my hubby favorite.
    I like beef barley soup.

    It been cool for this time of year in North Idaho that we still can have a nice bowl of homemade soup.

    Coffee is on.

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  11. Chicken soup for the soul! I made a chicken and corn soup for the crew's lunch yesterday - just perfect on a day which didn't make it over 7 degrees (and 0 with the windchill factor).

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  12. We love soup. the simplest and fastest "noodle" that I know is Hungarian csipetke (chip'et-keh) which is just one or two beaten eggs and as much flour as you can get this to hold together. Roll into a long cylinder and pinch off smallish bits into the boiling water. (Csipni means to pinch.) It needs to cook about ten minutes and then is a satisfyingly chewy sort of little dumpling.

    It is the noodle made for Hungarian gulyas leves (cowboy soup), the national dish.

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  13. Thanks Kristi. I love Hungarian dumplings so I'm going to try your noodle recipe next time I cook noodles.

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  14. That looks so good! It has been cool here this week (even though it's early June) and I made a big pot of homemade navy bean soup yesterday. The recipe is on my blog. It was really good. Thanks for sharing...

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  15. I love chicken soup and here where I live we make chicken corn soup....same stock as yours with chicken and herbs, but add fresh corn and instead of noodles (if you don't have any or time to make them) we make rivals - I do about a cup of flour and stir in an egg yolk until if forms and then just rip off the pieces and drop in the soup for about the last 30 minutes of cooking. It is like eating dough balls in your soup....some like it, some don't, but if you ask people here in amish country if they want some chicken corn rival soup....the answer will be a huge YES! One of my favorite school lunches as a child here in my area was chicken corn rival soup and peanut butter mixed with marshmallow fluff sandwiches.....those were the days.

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  16. Oh how i love Chicken soup,can't wait to try this recipe,i have never made noodles before,look's really easy,and delicious,thank you !!

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  17. I made this recipe yesterday and loved it! Thank you Rhonda! I had it with roast chicken and country gravy. I am so excited to make noodles more often now! I had tried a recipe years ago that I wasn't crazy about. This is delicious! I have a 12 year old hen who still lays every other day. Such a great use of her eggs, and an excellent source of protein. Reminds me of the homemade pastas I used to buy at the tiny shops in Rome. They had wooden drying racks and delectable homemade sauces...I also plan to use this one for tuna and noodles.

    I love your blog Rhonda! You are a master teacher and very generous with your time and talents! I study your articles every day. As a self employed single woman, (I teach ballet,) your advice has kept me motivated and in the black, financially. You are helping many people.

    Stephenie

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  18. I tried these noodles this evening. I like them! Hubby hasn't had the chance to try them yet, as he is working a bit late. Easy and cheap, and tastes good. I didn't use the whole 1/2 cup of water and added more flour as it was so sticky. I was dubious that half would make enough noodles, but it was more than enough. I might only use 1/3 next time.

    Thanks for the good stuff, Rhonda!

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