Chicken Noodle Soup

Vickie’s Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken soup has long been touted as a form of folk medicine to treat symptoms of the common cold and related conditions for centuries. And you’ll find a huge variety of recipes from around the world as well.

In 2000, scientists at Nebraska’s Medical Center studied the effects of chicken soup on the immune system. One thing their study found was that chicken soup contains the Amino acid cysteine, which is very similar to acetylcysteine. Acetylcysteine is used by doctors for patients with bronchitis and other respiratory infections to help clear them. So there maybe something to those old fashion cold remedies after all.

Preparation time: 1 1/2 to 2 hours 

Ingredients:

• 4 large skinless chicken breasts.
• 2 mid-sized carrots cut into thin slices or cubes.
• 3 mid-sized celery sticks, cut into thin slices.
• 1 small onion cut into small cubes.
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 chicken bullion cube (you won’t need any additional salt)
• ½ tspn pepper
• 2 tspn butter or margarine
• 3 cups of noodles; you can use
  • Farfalle (bow tie shaped pasta)
  • Mafalda (small short lasagna pasta)

Directions:
The Chicken:

• Preheat oven to 350° F
• Melt 1 tspn of butter or margarine and set aside.
• Place the chicken on a cookie sheet.
• Pour the butter evenly over each piece of chicken. Then cover the entire cookie sheet and chicken with Aluminum foil. Make sure you tighten the foil around the edges of the pan.
• Cook for 25 – 35 minutes, until tender; but still juicy.
  (Cut the thickest piece of chicken to ensure they’re thoroughly cooked. You don’t want them dry, but you don’t want them raw either.)
• Set the chicken aside to cool.

The Soup base:
While you’re waiting for the chicken to cook, create your soup base:

• In a large sauce pan over high heat combine:
  • 5 cups of water
  • The chicken bullion cube.
  • Carrots, celery, and onion.
  • 1 tspn butter or margarine.
  • The pepper.
• Bring to a boil and sprinkle in the flour over the top.  Stir the flour into the soup base for about 2 minutes. You don’t want any clumps of flour left over.
• Reduce to medium heat and cover.

Once the chicken is done:

• Cut the cooked chicken into chunks, discard any ‘fatty’ attachments.
• Add chicken to the soup base and stir.
• Add the noodles and stir.
• Reduce heat to just below medium.
  (Think of this as 5 notches below medium)
• Simmer for 30-60 minutes. Don’t boil!
• Continually check on the soup and stir occasionally.
  About every 20 minutes is a good stretch of time.

Serve:

• Serve hot with saltine crackers.
• Serve with a sandwich, grilled cheese is best.

Alternatives:

• I like adding a cup of peas to the soup base for a variety of color.
  • You can add broccoli, corn, or any variety of veggies you may favor.
• My maternal grandmother added potatoes to her soup, cut into small cubes.

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