Scarborough Fair Chicken Soup

[maradydd]

So, there I was, hacking away in my living room, when I noticed that I was hungry. True to form, when I'm living and working alone, I forget to do things like eating. I remembered fixing a frozen pizza around 10pm last night, but I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten before then, so I decided this situation had to be remedied. I could have eaten the other half of the pizza, but it didn't look nearly as appetizing for lunch as it might otherwise have for breakfast. I didn't really want to go out, though, so that meant cooking -- preferably something that didn't take a lot of time to fix. A quick survey of the ingredients in my cabinet suggested chicken soup, and it cooked up so quickly (maybe fifteen minutes, all told) and turned out so well that I decided to share the recipe.

I'm not going to indicate quantities here, because (1) I didn't measure anything, and (2) I don't know how many people you're cooking for. I probably made somewhere between two and three cups of broth, and used two small chicken-tenderloin strips that I had in my freezer; my technique for adding spices involves adding more and more until it looks and smells right. (Except for celery seed, on which more later.) This left me with enough food for two people, three if they don't like big lunches.

Cut up a few pieces of chicken breast and put them on something to grill. (I used a George Foreman grill, because then I don't have to worry about flipping the chicken over.) You can season them if you want to, but I wouldn't sweat it, because they're going to absorb plenty of flavour from the broth you're about to make.

Now, get some chicken stock. (This the part where enochsmiles laughs at me, because he makes his own from scratch and claims that it's so rich and fatty that it solidifies into an aspic-like substance when left in the fridge overnight. I wouldn't know, because he's never made it for me. *poke* Anyway, I used bouillon and it came out fine.)

Add to taste:
Marjoram
Basil
Oregano
Parsley
Sage
Rosemary
Thyme (c'mon, everyone, sing along with me! "Sheeeeeeee once waaaaas a true love of miiiiiine...")

Add just a pinch of celery seed. No, really. No dish ever needs more than a pinch of celery seed, or else you will be tasting celery for the rest of your life.

Simmer for a while, then add glass noodles (the kind where if you deep-fry them for a split second in hot oil they poof up into giant styrofoam noodles. No, really. It's the most amusing way to make a mess of your kitchen I've ever found.) Let the noodles soften, then turn the heat down to its lowest temperature, otherwise the noodles will boil and you will end up with gloppy noodle mush.

Continue to simmer the stock-and-noodles while the chicken finishes grilling. Once that's done, dice the chicken (kitchen shears are great for this) and toss the bits into the broth. Simmer for another five or ten minutes, or until you're so hungry you just can't take it anymore. Serves however many you cooked it for.

This would probably also be really good with veggie broth and tofu, FWIW. Maybe some mushrooms, too, if you like that kind of thing.

Also, note to self: the next time you think, "Gosh, that's hot. I wish someone made kitchen pliers," it should not take you five minutes to remember that "kitchen pliers" are actually called "tongs", and you do not own any. However, you are not allowed to go to Bed, Bath and Beyond by yourself ever again, so you should get someone responsible to go with you.

And seriously, trust me on the celery seed.

Comments

[nibor.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's such a different experience from when I wander into a kitchen deciding what to eat.

[maradydd.livejournal.com]

There was an incident not so long ago when enochsmiles was complaining that there was no food in the house. I opened up the cabinets, said, "Look, there's all this stuff!", and started concocting. Half an hour later, ka-blam, food.

I think it was a conversation between steer and drdoug in which steer remarked, "I buy food, whereas you buy ingredients."

[grimmtooth.livejournal.com]

Now, get some chicken stock. (This the part where [info]enochsmiles laughs at me, because he makes his own from scratch and claims that it's so rich and fatty that it solidifies into an aspic-like substance when left in the fridge overnight. I wouldn't know, because he's never made it for me. *poke* Anyway, I used bouillon and it came out fine.)

I use bullion if I gotta, canned if that's what I have, but I agree with [info]enochsmiles that the real stuff is a lot richer. The downside is that it IS fat that makes it that way, but in some cases (chicken dumplings, chicken pot pie) you're not worried about calories anyway, or you'd be eating something ELSE :-)

Add just a pinch of celery seed. No, really. No dish ever needs more than a pinch of celery seed, or else you will be tasting celery for the rest of your life.

Funny, I never for once thought celery seed tasted remotely like celery - but point taken.

[semanticdm05.livejournal.com]

I'll go to BB&B with you. :-D
They do sell butane-powered soldering irons there, don't they? ;-)

[maradydd.livejournal.com]

No, but they do sell butane-powered kitchen torches. Fortunately, I already have one of those thanks to meowmeowcatchow.

Radio Shack?

[thn1kk4man.livejournal.com]

I know Radio Shack sells these. I will go with you. ^_^

[cassandrasimplx.livejournal.com]

the next time you think, "Gosh, that's hot. I wish someone made kitchen pliers,"...

This is why I keep a Leatherman in the kitchen.

Also, it does a passable job as a potato peeler.

[maradydd.livejournal.com]

You know, that makes good sense. I was reluctant to use my usual Leatherman or any of my other tools, given the sort of stuff I've used them on, but a dedicated kitchen Leatherman sounds useful.

[jrtom.livejournal.com]

Wouldn't a Leatherman be kind of hard to clean properly?

[carolhelga.livejournal.com]

That sounds remarkably like how I spice up my chicken broth. The only difference is that I add some onion and just a teensy bit of curry powder (having learned many years ago that a little curry can go a loooooooooooong way).

And yes, I do sing "Scarborough Fair" while adding the spices. (Don't laugh! I do!)