Mom's Chicken Soup

Mom's Chicken Soup (Marc-style)

On cold winter days, Mom used to make Tabatchnick's brand vegetable soup. It was a family favorite. I remember smelling it while is simmer on the stove as I sat in the breakfast room doing my homework. She served it with a crusty French loaf.  Other than that, I don't remember her making her own soup except for matzoh ball soup during the Jewish holidays. One day going through Mom's recipes, I was excited to come across a recipe for chicken soup that I did not know she had.  I had found my next recipe. This is a great basic chicken soup recipe which you can definitely change up or add to OR just make it 'as is' for some good Jewish penicillin!

I had planned to make it for John and I on a recent Saturday afternoon. After getting all of my ingredients out (except the chicken of course), I laid down on the couch to watch an afternoon movie for about 30 minutes. I couldn't even tell you what movie it was because I promptly dozed off for an unplanned afternoon nap several hours long!

So good and hot!

Waking up with a start at around 5:00 PM, I realized that I had only a couple of hours to prep and cook the soup! I therefore made a judgement call and decided to substitute chicken stock for the water. This way, I could make the soup in under two hours. Since I was only making it for us two guys, I reduced the recipe ingredients by half.  Any other changes or additions are in parentheses. Let's just say, sometimes, ya gotta improvise!

Basic Chicken Soup by Abby Deeds

4-5 pound soup chicken (I opted to chop up 2 pounds of chicken breast.)
3 1/2 qts water (I used 2 quarts of low sodium chicken stock.)
3 stalks celery chopped
2 carrots sliced 1/4 in thick (I used those baby carrots you find prebagged in the supermarket.)
1 large onion chopped
4 sprigs fresh parsley or celery leaves (I used the celery leaves and then added dried parsley towards the end.)
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste
Noodles (I used Ronzoni whole grain extra wide noodles.)

In a large pot, add water, chicken, celery, carrots, chopped onion, fresh parsely or celery greens, bay leaf,  and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered for 2 1/2 hrs or until chicken is tender. Remove the chicken bone and freeze to save for use in future soups. If needed, skim the fat off the top of the soup. For each quart of soup, add 1 1/2 cups of cooked noodles.  Serve with crusty French bread.