THE Chicken Soup Recipe

Feeling sick? Needs some comfort food? We all get sick and start feeling sorry for our miserable, stuffy-nosed, sneezing selves. This soup is exactly what you need to remind us of our cozy childhood beds and back-rubs from our moms. Make a large batch and freeze to be sure it's there for you when you need it.

The recipe is a fusion of the traditional American chicken soup I was raised on with the Egyptian version of this [Shorbat Lessan Asfour, or Egyptian Orzo Soup] I fell in love with as an adult.


Ingredients:

- Whole Chicken, thawed
- Black pepper corns [ground black pepper works just as well]
- Carrots [1 whole one, and about 1 cup chopped]
- 1 cup Thinly sliced celery.
- Celery leaves (or whatever pieces of the celery you didn't use for chopping)
- 1 Onion whole
- 1 Onion diced
- 1 Tbsp Cardamom
- 1 Tbsp Coriander seeds
- 4-5 Bay leaves
- Salt
- 2 Tbsp oil
- Half a bag of egg noodles, or any noodles to your preference.
- Lemon wedges for serving



Preparation:

- Clean the chicken good, I usually use salt and vinegar and rinse the bird with cold water.
- In a big enough pot, put the chicken, the whole onion, the whole carrot, bay leaves, salt, pepper, cardamom, coriander, celery, immersed in water and boil for 1.5- 2 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through. This will depend on the size and the type of the chicken. Make sure the chicken is cooked through. The joints should be very easy to move not stiff, and poking it should produce no reddish juices, but clear.
- Once the bird is cooked, take it out and put it aside. Strain the chicken stock into a bowl. This is your liquid gold right there. Fresh chicken stock.
- Now in a pot [I just use the same pot to save dishes] add in the oil and the diced onions and celery. Saute them on a medium heat. Add in the carrots, set aside.
- In a separate pot boil your chosen pasta approx half way, then rinse with cold water. If you cook through the pasta will get very mushy in the soup.
- Chop the chicken meat, removing all skin and bone.
Now assemble! Add in the pasta, the chicken pieces to the sauteed veggies, and add in stock. You may not need all the stock and I recommend keeping some in the freezer for other uses.
- Bring to the boil, then serve with a lemon wedge!


Now enjoy, with a box of tissues and a Rom-Com on the tv!