From Scratch Chicken Noodle Soup: Crazy Cooking Challenge (January)

Ready for this month's Crazy Cooking Challenge?

Does it get more classic than Chicken Noodle Soup? The ultimate in comfort foods, touted as the best home remedy for the sniffles and with as many variations as there are fans, there are hundreds of recipes posted online...okay, thousands.

It was so hard to decide on the "perfect" recipe for me. 2012 is all about real food, from scratch whenever possible and this seemed like a great opportunity for just that. The problem? I couldn't find a start to finish from scratch recipe. There was a lot of talk of I found posts about stock, posts for the soup or posts for noodles, but no one tackled them all. So this month I will be featuring not one, but two blog recipes.

This is a knock-your-socks off, old-fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup. Just like Grandma used to make.

First let's start with traditional chicken stock courtesy of Behind the Skillet. I was drawn to this simple way of preparing the chicken because it was different and easy.

For the Broth - You Will Need:
1 raw chicken
salt and pepper

1 large white onion
2 carrots
3 celery ribs
1 whole garlic clove
Couple pinches of mustard seeds
2 bay leaves
12 c. of water

Rinse the thawed chicken and pat it completely dry. Make sure you take out the gizzard and giblets inside. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Place the chicken in a roasting pan or skillet just barely larger than the bird. I used a disposable pie plate.

Season liberally with salt and pepper, inside and out.

I have nicknamed this my "four-alarm chicken". I must have set the smoke detector off a dozen times! Be sure to have a roasting pan underneath your bird to collect any overflow. Despite the ringing in my ears, the smell was amazing. I was impressed how easy it was to roast the chicken.

Roast the bird, breast side up for 30 minutes, then flip and continue cooking for at least 20 more minutes depending on the size of your chicken.

Let the bird cool and then start tearing it down. Grab two bowls. Place all the meat in one and the bones, skin and anything else in the other bowl. Set the meat aside for use later.

Now is a great time to chop veggies.

Throw everything into a big stock pot. Bring it up to a boil and then reduce the pot down to a simmer. The pot should simmer for at least 1 to 2 hours.

Once finished, pass the contents through a fine mesh strainer and save the stock. I like to push the juice out of every last vegetable. It is all good stuff! Now the base for our chicken noodle soup is ready.

For the soup and hand made noodles I went over to For The Love of Cooking.

Chicken Noodle Soup - You Will Need:
8 c. of homemade stock
1 tsp. olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 1/2 c. carrots, diced
3 stalks of celery, diced
2 tsp. chicken bouillon
1 bay leaf
sea salt & fresh black pepper to taste
1 1/2 c. cooked diced chicken
fresh parsley, chopped for garnish

Egg Noodles
2 eggs
2 c. flour
3/4  tsp. salt
1/4 c. milk

Saute the onions in olive oil till tender. Add garlic for 30 seconds till warmed through. Add the broth and remaining soup ingredients to your pot. Cook over low heat for 2 hours.

After an hour, start making the noodles. Mix the first 3 ingredients and begin slowly adding the milk until you have a ball of dough. Flour a counter top and roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thickness.

I used a pizza cutter and my rolling pin to cut the noodles. I don't mind a rustic, homemade look.

Let the noodles dry out on the counter for at least an hour before adding them to the soup. The noodles only need a few minutes to cook.

Garnish you bowl with a bit of fresh chopped parsley before serving. Enjoy!

Be sure to check out all the other Crazy Cooks on the Linky. If you enjoyed my recipe, please vote under the picture in the linky. Thanks!