Deadline Food: Soup For The Soul
As the nights close in and the temperature drops, we all reach for the kind of food which can give us that warm and cosy feeling and thanks to Geri Krotow, we now have a new recipe for Chicken Soup!
As daylight shortens and the air gets chilly I find myself reaching for warm, nutritious soups or stews more often. With a writer’s schedule, though, it can be difficult to find the time for that all-day home-cooked dish.
I was thrilled to discover this easy way to make chicken soup from (mostly) scratch, but with minimal time at the kitchen counter. I hope you enjoy, and please feel free to share with your friends!
Geri’s Quickie Homemade Chicken Soup
1 roasting/stewing chicken
3-4 whole carrots
3-4 stalks of celery
1 onion
2-3 cloves garlic
Tarragon or parsley, your choice
SaltPepper
Olive
Oil
Bouillon of your choice—I like Better Than Bouillon, low sodium is terrific
Egg Noodles or Rice—I like old fashioned egg noodles, any brand you prefer, and I’ve recently appreciated Texmati rice, your choice which blend
First, the chicken. Clean and rinse your chicken, taking care to remove any innards, often in a paper packet inside the cavity.
Place chicken in your slow cooker. If you have a big slow cooker, you can put 2 chickens in there to have extra meat for future recipes. Place a whole, skinned carrots, an onion in quarters, whole garlic cloves, and celery in the cavity (garlic can go under the skin if preferred) Sprinkle chicken with salt (just a tad—the bouillon has a lot of sodium), pepper, and tarragon or parsley.
Cook at low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours (I almost always end up doing it on high for 4 hours as I don’t think ahead soon enough!)
Bone the chicken: leaving the chicken in the slow cooker, use two forks or a fork and knife to remove the meat from the bone, placing meat on separate dish. Take care to NOT include skin or bones or cartilage. If you’re enthused about the pure chicken broth/fat the chicken has produced, go ahead and strain it through a sieve and save it.
I toss it. No mess!
Towards the end of the chicken slow cooker time, chop the remaining carrots (2) and celery (2) into your favorite sized bites.
Prepare bouillon—for one chicken you will need one quart, plus 2 cups of water, or for the richest soup, 6 cups of bouillon
Cook the noodles or rice as per package directions. If you have a rice cooker, you can have the rice already done, just set it up when you put the chicken in the slow cooker.
Sauté the carrots and celery in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, in a large soup/stock pot, until veggies are tender, about 4 or 5 minutes. Add the broth and heat until boiling, then place on simmer.
Add in as much/little chicken as you’d like, along with either the rice or noodles. Alternatively, my family likes to take their bowl and heap in the noodles or rice, then add the soup over it.
Enjoy!
Geri's latest release, The Billionaire's Colton Threat, is out now. For more information check out her website, and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
What is your favorite winter warmer dish? Do you think chicken soup is soup for the soul or do you have an alternative? Tell us in the comments or share your #SoupForTheSoul recipes on Social Media to join the #PHS Community's discussion .
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