The Lexingtonienne

May18th

4 Comments

Sometimes, even though you wash your hands diligently, use hand sanitizer with alarming frequency, and are very careful not to touch your hands to your face after you’ve been out in public, touching money and door handles and elevator buttons… you still get sick.

One of us (I won’t name names, but it wasn’t me or Eleanora) tracked a cold into this house like mud on boots, and we are down for the count. So even though it’s May, I’m reposting this chicken soup recipe because it’s what we’re eating this week. With grilled cheese.

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TARRAGON CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP (pdf)
1 lb chicken*
5-6 carrots, washed and peeled
5-6 celery stalks
1 medium onion
3-4 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
1 bunch tarragon
1 bay leaf
3 32-oz boxes Swanson chicken broth
2 C (approx) egg noodles
Salt & pepper to taste

*You can use bone-in, skin-on or boneless, skinless. You can use dark or white meat or both. I made mine with chicken tenders this time because I didn’t want a gargantuan-size batch of soup, and the chicken tenders came in the smallest package — 1 pound.

Place chicken in a heavy stockpot. Salt & pepper it. Add:
– 2 carrots and 2 celery stalks, left whole or cut small enough to fit into your pot
– 1/2 the onion, cut into large chunks
– garlic
– 1/2 the tarragon, in large sprigs (no need to chop)
– bay leaf
– 1 box chicken broth, or enough to cover the chicken by about 1 inch

Bring to a simmer over high heat, then turn down the heat so that the liquid barely bubbles. Cook partially covered until your chicken is cooked through — the juices should run clear when pierced with a fork. This will take about 8-12 minutes for boneless, skinless chicken breasts (my chicken tenders took 8 minutes), or 25-30 minutes for chicken parts.

Meanwhile, chop and set aside:
– remaining carrots
– remaining celery stalks
– remaining 1/2 onion
– remaining tarragon (leaves only, no stems)

When finished poaching, remove the chicken to a plate or bowl and cover with aluminum foil. Set aside. Strain vegetables, garlic, herbs, and bay leaf from the pot so that only the chicken broth remains. (Discard everything but the broth.)

Add another box of chicken broth to the pot and bring it to a boil. Add chopped carrots, celery, and onion, and cook for about 15 minutes. Add several turns of black pepper. Meanwhile, cut chicken into bite-size chunks or use two forks to shred it. Reduce heat, add chicken and chopped tarragon to the broth, and cook over low heat, partially covered, for about 20 minutes.

Turn heat to high so that the broth boils, add egg noodles, and cook until egg noodles are done, about 10 minutes. Add more chicken broth as needed.

Sniff sniff, cough cough,

Hannah

4 Comments

  • Comment by Shae — May 19, 2011 @ 5:26 am

    It’s been cold and raining here all week… your chicken noodle soup looks delicious!

  • Comment by Elibeth Rezzoli — May 19, 2011 @ 5:11 pm

    It looks awesome!!! I want some right now.

  • Comment by Elibeth Rezzoli — May 19, 2011 @ 5:13 pm

    May I ask what kind of camera you use? All the pictures you have posted are incredibly neat and clear.

  • Comment by Hannilou — May 20, 2011 @ 6:18 pm

    It’s a Nikon D90. 🙂

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