Homemade Chicken Soup

My idea of a perfect Sunday:

• No alarm set to wake up
• Walk the dogs
• Breakfast with the Sunday paper
• Bike ride
• Watch football
• Cook/bake
• Eat and spend time with family and friends
• Write
• Read
• Shop
• Laugh
• More football

Last Sunday was a near perfect Sunday.  Only two things were missing...reading and shopping.  If it hadn't been for MM being sick I would have been at 99% for the day.  But as it was, him being sick allowed me to cook and nest, so really I can't complain.

Originally MM and I had planned on a date night on Sunday.  No kids, a new movie was out, and we hadn't had sushi in a while.  But after we walked the dogs (after waking up with no alarm), he said his stomach wasn't feeling right.  So...sushi...probably not!  After having breakfast with the paper, I took an easy ride which turned out to be a destination ride for coffee!  Coming back from my ride (and after text messages from MM saying that he was not feeling any better), I got a bit selfish.  Oh goody, now I can cook!  What would I want if I were sick?  More accurately, what do I want that will make me feel better when MM is sick.  Chicken soup!

I have never made chicken soup before.  The idea of cooking soup all day made me feel better...oh wait, I wasn't the one that was sick.  Anyway...

When I got back home from the ride, MM was not so good.  I asked him if the smell of something cooking would make him more nauseous.  I am sensitive like that sometimes.  Pretty sure I would have cooked it anyway!

Well I guess I did get to shop because I went to the grocery store.  Perusing the aisles for flavors and sales is better retail therapy for me.  AND there was a mini food processor on sale that I have been wanting.  Score!!

Back at home MM had the Bronco game on.  Cooking while watching football??  Near Heaven!

The best part of this chicken soup recipe is that it is 99.9% mine.  The only thing I referenced was how much corn starch I should add to thicken the broth.  I knew what it should come out like so I just threw it together.

Chicken Soup

Serves 6-8

1 Whole chicken skin on bone in with giblets.  Cut chicken into quarters.

About 1 gallon of water (adjust as needed once all ingredients are in the pot)

4 whole carrots

4 celery stalks

1 large yellow onion

2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary

2-3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/3 cup corn starch

1/4 cup water

Tortellini (your choice of filling, and how much you want.  I used about 16 ounces of a mini tortellini filled with Parmesan).

In a large stock pot add water.  Place quartered chicken and giblets in the water.  Turn burner on high.  Add salt.

Scrub carrots and celery well.  I leave the skin on the carrots.  One less step and they look more rustic.  Trim the ends off the carrots and slice into 3-4" pieces.  Leave leafy tops on celery but remove the ends that tend to collect dirt that seems impossible to remove!  Slice celery into 3-4" pieces.  Peel onion, remove ends and slice into quarters.  Put carrots, celery and onion into pot with chicken.  Add whole sprigs of rosemary and thyme, onion and garlic powders to the pot.  If needed add more water so everything is just covered.

Bring pot to a boil then reduce heat to a low boil.  Cook until chicken is done and easily falls off the bone.  About 2-3 hours.

The longer that smell can linger in the house the better!

When the chicken is done strain the stock into another pot and return to the burner on medium.

Here is where the fun begins and hands get dirty!  Set chicken pieces aside to cool.  Slice carrots, onions and celery into bite size soup pieces and put into a large bowl.  Remove tough stems from rosemary and thyme and discard.

If you can keep yourself from eating the giblets, slice them up and add to the vegetables.  Knowing MM and kids would be disgusted if they knew that I had added them in (even though they never would have known) and knowing they would never appreciate such a delicacy, I just ate them myself.  Yum!

Once chicken is cool enough to handle, remove it from the bone.  Discard the bones.  Get them way away from the curious hounds!  This is where I get really messy because it is easier to remove it with my hands than try to stay clean and use a fork or whatever.  Slice or shred the chicken into soup appropriate sizes.  Add chicken to the vegetables.

I like a thick broth.  If you prefer a more soupy broth, then you can skip this step.  Add 1/3 cup cornstarch to 1/4 cup water.  Stir with a whisk or fork until well combined.  Add to broth.  Whisk vigorously until well combined.

Add the sliced vegetables and chicken into the broth.  Bring broth back to a low boil.  

Add tortellini and simmer until tortellini is done.

I am a dunker.  I require ketchup to dunk my fries, milk to dunk my cookies, and bread to dunk in my soup.  MM however requires only oyster crackers for his soup.  One of these days he will learn the right way to eat!

Slice some french bread into nice thick slices.  Melt 1 Tablespoon butter with 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and salt.  Brush melted garlic butter onto bread.  Place bread under broiler until just toasted.

If you haven't already passed out from anticipation, the wait is finally over and you can savor your incredible soup with the appropriate dunking object.