11 January 2018

As I mentioned here last week, January is National Soup Month.  So in continuing celebration I am posting another of my favorite soup recipes.  This time Chicken Noodle.

Chicken Noodle is my oldest and arguably still my most favorite kind of soup.  Although I grew up on the heat-and-serve variety in a Campbell’s can, these days I often make my own, from scratch.  This week, with the winter wind bearing down and the possibility of  at least a few flakes of snow, I decided that the frosty forecast called for a warm steaming bowl of noodle soup.

The recipe I use is one I’ve used for at least the past ten years.  Back in the day, Southern Living, the iconic monthly magazine and sacred purveyor of Southern life, had an at-home-party business called Southern Living at Home.  Women, and probably a few men, became SLH “consultants” and encouraged their friends and acquaintances to host a party where the merchandise was displayed and most often than not purchased, because if Southern Living had its name on a product you knew you had to have it.

While living in Kansas, I hosted one such party, and much to the chagrin of my husband purchased more than a few home goods we didn’t need.  As a hostess gift, I received a cookbook, Everyday Menus.  Unlike most of the goods I purchased that day and at subsequent parties that I attended, I still have that cookbook and I still use it, which gets us back to the recipe for noodle soup.

Except for occasionally deleting parsnips, that are for some reason always hard for me to find, this is a recipe I follow exactly.  It is great as is.  Quick and flavorful it is the perfect winter night warm-me-up, especially when paired with that oh-so-Southern mealtime staple of cornbread

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 medium carrots, chopped (3, if you can’t find parsnips)
• 2 medium parsnips, chopped
• 1 medium-sized sweet onion, diced
• 1 large celery rib, chopped (2, if you can’t find parsnips)
• 4 skinned and boned chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 5 cups chicken broth (I use 5 bouillon cubes and 5 cups of water)
• 4 ounces uncooked wide egg noodles
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (1 teaspoon of dried parsley can be substituted if fresh parsley is hard to come by)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
2. Add carrots and next three ingredients; sauté five minutes.
3. Add chicken and sauté five minutes.
4. Add flour and pepper (dried parsley too if substituting for fresh), stirring until blended. Cook 1 minutes, stirring constantly.
5. Add broth; bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.
6. Add noodles; return to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, ten minutes.
7. Stir in fresh parsley.
8. Serve and Enjoy!