The Lady’s Chicken Noodle Soup

i’m not a great cook when it comes to the simple things. pancakes, grilled cheese, etc…i fail every time. i kept asking my mom how to make chicken noodle soup from scratch, but i couldn’t really get it right. recently i found this recipe from Paula Deen and it is the best chicken noodle soup i have ever had! (i leave out the cheese and cream.)


Stock:
1 (2 ½ to 3 lb) fryer chicken, cut up (I use 3 chicken breasts)
3 ½ quarts water
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 ½ to 2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 bay leaves
3 chicken bouillon cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Soup:
2 cups sliced carrots
2 cups sliced celery, with leafy green tops
2 ½ cups uncooked egg noodles
1 cup sliced mushrooms
3 Tbs chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/3 cup cooking sherry (I substitute water or chicken broth)
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves (less if using dried)
1 cup grated Parmesan, optional
¾ cup heavy cream, optional
Seasoning salt
Fresh ground black pepper
Crusty French bread, for serving.

For the stock: add all ingredients to a soup pot. Cook until chicken is tender, about 35-45 minutes. Remove chicken from pot and set aside to cool. Remove and discard bay leaves and onion. You should have approximately 3 quarts of stock. When chicken is cool enough to touch, pick bones clean, discarding bones, skin and cartilage. Set chicken aside.

For the soup: bring stock back to a boil, add carrots, and cook for 3 minutes. Add celery and continue to cook for 5 to 10 minutes. Add egg noodles and cook according to directions on package. When noodles are done, add chicken, mushrooms, parsley, sherry and rosemary. Add Parmesan and cream, if using. Cook for another 2 minutes. Adjust seasoning, if needed by adding seasoning salt and pepper. Enjoy along with a nice hot crusty loaf of French bread.