Back to School Sniffle Cure

Here's a twist on a fall favorite: Chicken Noodle Soup.

Whenever I am feeling under the weather, I like to cook myself up a big batch of homemade Chicken Noodle Soup. What I am including here is a personal recipe based roughly on the Food Network's online recipe cache along with their broadcasted episodes of a smorgasbord of shows and the ingredients listed on the back of commercially available canned soups. I recommend THIS recipe over all canned soups, because it costs about 1/billionth of the price, and tastes exponentially better.

What you need:
A large skillet/fry pan
A 4+ quart pot (good for stock)

Makes about 10 cups of soup.

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced (I personally like mine thinly sliced)
1 large lime juiced, split into two portions.
1 cup white wine (This is entirely optional...I prefer a nice crisp Pinot Grigio, but dealer's choice)
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 full Chicken breast (both sides! or your favorite bits of the bird)
1 can diced/minced Green Chili (El Paso is a pretty good brand for these)
3 whole bay leaves
1 Tablespoon Tarragon, split in 2 servings of 1/2 Tablespoon
1 Tablespoon Parsley, split in 2 servings of 1/2 Tablespoon
1 Tablespoon Thyme, split in 2 servings of 1/2 Tablespoon
Pinch Crushed Red Chili Pepper
12 Cups Chicken stock (I make mine using tap water and "Better Than Bouillon" paste)
1/2 lb (one bag) egg noodles
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. In the 4 quart pot, make the chicken stock according to your favorite method. Add the bay leaves and half of the Lime juice, Tarragon, Thyme, and Parsley to the stock and simmer on Medium, stirring occasionally. This should come to a slow boil for the rest of the cooking time.
2. In the fry pan, heat the olive oil on high until fuming. Add the onion and sautee until sweating, then add the garlic. After about a minute, turn the heat down to medium and add the chicken breast/pieces and the rest of the Lime juice, Tarragon, Thyme, and Parsley. Brown chicken on one side and then flip.
3. After flipping, add the green chili. Simmer covered until the chicken is no longer pink inside.
4. Remove chicken to a cutting board and shred with two forks. Turn the heat down to low, add the white wine, carrots and celery. Reduce the mixture to a sauce (takes about 5 minutes). If you aren't using wine, use a little bit of the stock that has been simmering in the 4qt pot.
5. Add the sauce and chicken to the stock pot and allow to come back to a boil.
6. Once the stock pot mixture is boiling, add the egg noodles and salt and pepper to taste. After about 15 minutes, the noodles should be tender enough to serve (You can always add the noodles later to decrease their cooking time and serve when the noodles are al dente, according to your preference). This goes best when served with saltines or a good baguette.

My cost for making this, including the wine: $15 (the herbs are kept in stock regularly and not calculated into the cost).

I find that the longer this simmers, the better it tastes. I really recommend letting it sit in the fridge overnight, and then reheating it before serving.

~Tiffens