Chicken Noodle Soup

Submitted by Jessican

Introduction

When I was away at college, my grandfather would make big pots of soup, and bring me containers of it to put in the freezer when he came to visit. If I was sick, or busy, or felt like staying in for dinner, having this soup on hand was fantastic. Since my husband and I are both sick this weekend, it was the perfect opportunity to make a classic comfort food - my grandfather's chicken noodle soup.

Ingredients

• 1 large onion
• 3 stalks + leafy center of celery
• 3-4 carrots
• 2 cloves garlic
• handful of parsley
• small handful of basil
• small handful of thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 t. salt
• 1/2 t. pepper
• 1 1/2 T. Emeril's chicken rub
• 5 lb whole chicken
• Chicken broth to cover (~12 c.)
• 2 c. frozen peas
• 2 c. frozen corn
• 16 oz. wide egg noodles

Method

• First, chop your celery, carrots, onion, parsley, and press your garlic.

• Add them to a big stockpot.

• Next, chop your basil, thyme, and get out your bay leaves.

• Add those to the pot, along with the salt, pepper, and chicken rub.

• Rinse your chicken with cold water and add it on top of the vegetables, then add enough broth to cover everything - I needed about 12 cups.

• Bring this all to a boil, then simmer until the chicken is falling off the bone, about 1 hour.

• When the chicken is ready, pull it out of the pot and set it aside to cool a bit.

• Put on a pot of water to boil to half-cook the noodles, and add the peas and corn to the soup.

• When the water is boiling, add the noodles and cook for about 4 minutes - they will finish cooking in the soup.

• The chicken should be cooled enough to handle now, so shred it into bite-sized pieces and add to the soup.

• Stir everything up, and the soup is ready!

• Plate and serve with crusty bread!