As we wind down the year, I have to admit 2019 has not been the best. There have been some highs for sure but, man, the daily slog of life has taken its toll this year.
But as we approach the shortest day of the year, and then the day after when the sun shines a little more each day, I’m reminded to be grateful for all the little things that add up to big stuff.
This week that meant taking a mental break from the news. My podcasts were mostly pop culture and holiday themed. My television viewing mostly consisted of Rifftrax and MST3K. The little bit of news that did seep through included the fact that we finally impeached the motherfucker.
One other thing that helped keep my mind off of it all was the days-long process to make the most epic of comfort foods, chicken noodle soup.
Don’t let the “days-long” scare you. The first day was making a broth, which was about 5 minutes of effort and an hour of down time, and can be done in advance (I often make it and freeze for future use). The second day was baking a whole chicken, which was about 10 minutes of effort (including deglazing) and 1 ½ hours of down time, which can also be done in advance.
The last day was a little more labor intensive (I watched most of the Grumpy Cat Christmas movie while I cooked), but that included some cleaning, my required blogging pictures, and some dawdling. Still, picking apart a whole chicken takes time and so does chopping the extra vegetables that make my ideal chicken noodle soup.
The recipe is based off of a very fancy Saveur recipe that I’ve made before but I added some things to make it fit my ideal of the dish. Including the fact that it is mostly a chicken noodle stew by the time I’m finished. I still kept their parts, just also added some of my own.
Here’s what I did:
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken, about 3-4 lbs.
- 2 T. olive oil, plus more for sauteing
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 12 c. chicken stock, divided
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 3 c. frozen corn kernels
- 1 t. crushed saffron threads
- 12 oz. egg noodles (I had a 14 oz. package and threw in the whole thing plus an additional cup of broth)
- Crusty bread, for serving (optional)
Directions
Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a 9 x 13 inch dish (a Dutch oven would probably work, but a casserole dish is what I used), rub the chicken with the olive oil and then season well with salt and pepper. Bake the chicken until golden brown and tender, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Carefully transfer the chicken to a cutting board and reserve the oil, etc, in the baking dish.
Once dish is slightly cooled, pour 2 c. of the stock into the baking dish and scrape with a wooden spoon to deglaze the bottom. (I waited until both broth and dish were pretty cool, and still had no problems, and then poured it into a separate container than the rest of the broth before bringing the whole dish together the next day.)
Once chicken is cool enough to handle or the next day, pick meat from the chicken and tear or chop into bite-sized pieces. You can discard the skin and bones, or freeze them, like I do, for a future chicken stock.
When ready to complete the soup, saute the onions, celery, and carrots in a little bit of oil for about 5 minutes in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Then, pour in the remaining 10 cups of stock and add in the 2 c. from the deglaze (which will look like gravy if you’ve refrigerated it overnight, like I did) as well as the chicken pieces. Add the corn and saffron to the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and continue to cook, uncovered, for about 15 minutes until the stock is slightly reduced.
Add the egg noodles and cook for an additional 10 to 12 minutes, until cooked through. Season the soup with more salt and pepper, if desired. Enjoy, and happy holidays, dear readers!