My Chicken Noodle Soup

I brought back a nasty cold from Las Vegas that I passed along to my wife  She was upset to find that we didn't have any of the Trader Joe's chicken noodle soup that she loves so much.  I decided to make some homemade chicken noodle soup for her.  I thought I'd made some before, so I looked through my recipe folder on my computer and, sure enough, there wasn't a recipe anywhere.

I looked through the Internet looking for some recipes and, as I always do, I took a little bit of this, a little bit of that and came up with a chicken noodle soup that was stupidly easy and it turned out pretty damn good.  Here it is:

3 - 3/4 lb. skinned chicken breasts 

14 to 16 cups chicken stock, or water with 2 heaping tablespoons of Watkins Chicken Soup base mix

1 1/2 cups celery - chopped

1 1/2 cups carrots - peeled and chopped (I minced the carrots for this recipe) 

1/2 large sweet yellow onion - minced

4 cloves garlic - minced

3 heaping tablespoons - Italian Seasoning (dried basil, dried oregano leaves, dried parsley, marjoram, sage)

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon garlic powder (Remember - we like garlic and it's good for a bad cold)

1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1 - 16 oz. bag of wide egg noodles

In a large stock pot, pour the chicken stock or water with Watkins Chicken Soup base mix.  Place on medium heat.  Add the Italian seasoning, poultry seasoning, salt and garlic powder. 

Slice and cube the chicken meat and add to the soup base.  Bring soup base to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

With a strainer ladle or strainer spoon, remove the chicken from the soup base.  Store in a bowl and keep covered in refrigerator for the time being.  Add the chopped carrots, onion, garlic and celery to the soup base and allow to simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables have all become tender. 

Add the chicken back into the base and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice.  About 30 minutes before serving, add the egg noodles, stirring occasionally.

You can easily get 12 to 16 servings out of this recipe and the soup refrigerates very well.  You can also freeze the soup in containers, if you so desire.                         

Comments

[wjs]

Hi:
I agree with you the best way to fight cold is to feed a cold. When I moved from Nyc to Hazlet I was chagrined by the lack of small delis who served premise made soups, subs other than pizzerias. Like you I'be scratching my memory for best recipies served by a mom or grd mom.
Your chicken noodle recipe is spot on. Time permitting I'd boil a chicken trunk. Skin it debone meat and set it aside. Proceed with steps. I like your time increments because the soup needs to meld before serving.

My question to you: Why didn't your wife know this recipie?