A Friend is Sick, So I'm making This Chicken Soup Day

I was scheduled to play golf with hubby this morning, but his tee time was for 9:00 a.m. and I decided I didn't want to drag my bootie out of bed that early. So, I called one of the wives I normally play with every Wednesday & Friday, to see if anyone was playing. When she answered the phone, I could tell she was sick. Turns out she has walking pneumonia, so, as is my M.O., I offered to bring some of my medicinal chicken soup, made from scratch. She didn't decline, which showed me just how sick she is. Normally, she'd protest.


Lucky for me that I had all the ingredients, or she might not be getting it today, when she needs it, because I really don't like going to the store. Sick friend or not.


So, I thawed out a nice, plump little chicken from H.E.B. that I'd had in the freezer. I filled the dutch oven with water, added the chicken, yellow onions, spring onions, celery, carrots, garlic, bay leaf, 3 cubes of chicken bullion & black peppercorns. Just before the water came to a boil, I turned the fire down to simmer and will let it simmer for 3 hours.



Once it has cooked for the amount of time my Grandmother always adhered to, I'll let it cool for approximately 20 minutes, then pour all the broth through a colander lined with cheesecloth, for a nice, clear soup.


Next, I allow the chicken to cool for a bit longer, while I toss the stewed veggies, bay leaf, and black peppercorns into a bowl (that will later be taken out to the compost pile in my veggie garden) & I prepare fresh veggies. Chopped celery, carrots, yellow onions, garlic, and spring onions.



When this task is accomplished, I begin picking the meat off the chicken bones, then chop it into bite sizes.


I then put 1 Tbs. of butter & 1 Tbs. of olive oil in the bottom of the pan and saute the onions, adding the celery, carrots & garlic (but not the spring onions) after a couple of minutes & cooking a minute or so longer. I also add 2 Tbs. of dried parsley (since I don't have any fresh available).


At this point, I add the chicken and it's broth to the pan and bring it to a simmer, allowing it to simmer for 30 to 45 minutes. Just before serving, I add the thinly sliced spring onions.


Since egg noodles tend to soak up all the good broth, I cook the noodles separately in another pan, to be added to the individual bowl, upon serving. I usually serve it with garlic toast or, if I'm lucky, the HU makes his kick-ass cornbread that he does in a cast iron skillet in the oven. Or sometimes we just have saltines with it. Mmmmmm! Talk about comfort food, baby, this is it.


At any rate, I hope this soup helps my friend to get better by next Wednesday, when we're all scheduled to play @ our regular time, behind the guys. She still has a teenager at home, which is, I'm sure, how she got sick in the first place. All those travelling kooties, lol. Frankly, I haven't been sick once since the kids have been gone from the nest. Oh wait! If anyone is reading this whose party or invitation we declined because I was sick... ummmm... I really was sick. Honest!







Okay, by now some of you may have noticed that I had forgotten to add the parsley and the spring onions before I took the picture. You would be right. However, since I didn't feel like setting up for the picture again, you'll just have to use your vivid imaginations, because I'm not doing it again, lol.