New year

Here we are in a new year and everyone is thinking about resolutions and losing weight and so on. I am here to say that resolutions are over rated. Goals are a superb way to track what you want to accomplish but resolutions last into maybe February if you are real strong but lets get real honest here, is anything you resolve to do going to get done? I have set a goal to publish one to two new recipes here every week. That amounts to about a hundred for the year. I have also decided that Soups will be the theme for the year. I have already given you the recipe for the Award winning and much requested clam chowder I made at my last job. So we will start with something new, or old? Chicken Soup for the bowl! 

to make your own stock (which I recommend you do at least once) 

1 whole roaster chicken Cut into 4 to 8 pieces

2 carrots cut into large 1 to 2 inch pieces

1 whole onion cut into 4 Red or Yellow either one will do

6 Stalks of Celery cut into large pieces

in a piece of cheesecloth place the following

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon Rosemary

15 to 20 peppercorns

any other herbs you enjoy

in a large stock pot (I like a 2 - 3 gallon pot but you can go up to 5 gallons just double the ingredients) heat a few tablespoons of oil over medium high heat and brown the chicken pieces in batches to keep the heat up in the pan. Set the browned chicken aside. Add all the vegetables and the cheesecloth to the stockpot and then add back the chicken and any juice from the plate. Cover with hot water. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to a simmer and cover for 2 to 6 hours. The longer this goes the more flavor there will be in the stock. Skim the foam occasionally but do not stir if you can avoid it. Let the stock cool for a short time just to make it easier to strain, and then strain into another stock pot.  I like to reduce this down about 25% before I use it for soup. Reserve the chicken and pull all the meat, try to avoid any bones and refrigerate until you are ready to make the soup. 

For the chicken soup:

1 pound of cooked egg noodles

2 carrots cut into bite sized pieces

4 stalks celery cut into bit sized pieces

1 yellow onion cut into bite sized pieces

all the chicken meat from the stock making process

and your homemade stock

Add more or less of the vegetables or chicken to your taste.

Place all but the noodles in a stockpot and bring to a boil as soon as the soup boils turn down to a simmer and then add the noodles. Stir and wait 5 minutes and then serve. I like mine with some fresh grated Parmesan cheese and some cracked black pepper. Notice I did not have you add salt at any time during this process. Now is the time to add salt if you like. Salting to early can make the whole lot become to salty. So be careful with the salt until you are ready to serve.