Classics: Chicken Noodle Soup (aka The Man Flu Meal aka the Most Expensive Soup I have EVER made!)

Before leaving to go out of town (aka go to the boyfriend "J" while job hunting online and visit my dog Loki) - my oldest kiddo had a cough.  And because he has no idea of basic manners with covering his mouth or coughing into his elbow - he naturally coughed all over me. 
(He has autism and you can read about that in my other blog!))
I am waiting for it to hit me like a ton of bricks. 
So I washed my hands a lot, I showered sometimes twice a day, I ate healthy (as I usually try to) and when I got to J's town - it turned out he is sick too.
I am currently on the sofa wrapped in a blanket after having gone out for a walk with Loki and then promptly filling myself with a bowl of warm soup.

And soup always tastes better the next day doesn't it?!  What is that magical thing that happens overnight in the fridge? The blending of flavours...and of course, soup is good fresh too. 
But the next day = magic.

So - do you want to make a batch of The Man Flu Meal? The "meal" part being you can serve this soup as a meal itself but I also whipped up some basic dinner rolls to go with the soup.
AKA the Most Expensive Soup I have EVER made - well, scroll to the bottom for THAT story...

First thing to note: I own a slow cooker and if I had it here with me - I would have used it.  Tossed everything in and leave it on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
But I didn't...I used a regular pot on the stove.  And you can too.

Second thing to note: you can save your veggie peelings and end bits and put them in a freezer safe ziploc bag and use them for your future veggie soup broth stock!

As usual (aka third thing to note) - there's no official measurements and portions are dependent on your dishware size and starve-o-meter!
If you're running low on the broth part - add more water, a bit more salt and spices and warm it up again! That's what I do!

So let's do it!

What do you need:

• Chicken - whether it be cheap cuts (I used drumsticks) or a whole chicken - go with your budget, whatever is in your freezer or handy enough for you to carry from the shop!
• I used 4 drumsticks but I was also working with a small pot!
• Carrots peeled and chopped - x3 medium
• Potatoes peeled and cubed - x3 medium
• Celery chopped - as much as you like it
  
• Garlic cloves peeled and chopped - x5-10 depending on size
• Ginger peeled and chopped in chunks (you know - so nobody goes insane from the spice or maybe they like it that way...) - depends on preference but I put in a 2-inches long chunk roughly chopped in large pieces 
• Red onion peeled and chopped- x1 medium
• Whole wheat pasta - any shape!  - see how healthy I am trying to be? I used the spiral kind of pasta.
• You can use regular pasta, coloured pasta, whatever you want essentially! There are gluten-free options out there but if they're too pricey - skip the noodles and use wild rice, regular rice or brown rice!
• Spices all to personal preference:
• The usual suspects: salt and pepper - to taste
• You can also use whole pepper kernels - I just grind them
• Dried bay leaves - x4
• Dried parlsey
• Dried oregano
• Dried chives
• Dried herb mix
• Dried rosemary
• aka whatever is in your spice cupboard that would go well in a soup!
• The magic ingredient: WHITE WINE! - a very hefty splash or two.
• Yes children, pregnant/breast-feeding mamas or alcohol sensitive people can eat this soup! Once boiled - the alcohol component boils away - so you won't go walking about drunk afterward...assuming you're just putting a hefty splash or two and not a whole bottle and no water for the main broth part! 😉

If you have a slow cooker - toss it all in (except pasta or rice) including water, cover and cook on low for 8 hours.  Add the rice or pasta the last 15 minutes before serving. Discard the bones.

What to do if you don't have a slow cooker:

1. Fill a large pot with water about 2/3 of the way and put on the stove burner about medium-high heat.
2. Once the water starts to boil - add in your ginger, garlic, onions and meat.
3. Add root veggies, spices and wine - continue to boil until meat is cooked and veggies are tender.
4. Remove bones and if the meat hasn't fallen off on their own - remove pieces of chicken and scrape meat off with a couple of forks and put the meat and bones back into the pot.
5. Reduce heat and let simmer 20-30 minutes on low stirring on occasion.
6. 15-minutes before serving - bring to a boil again and add your rice or pasta.
7. Before serving - remove bones.
8. Enjoy with a slice of bread and butter, or a dinner roll, a sandwich or a salad!

No I didn't eat 6 dinner rolls alone! Or did I....?

Now, a funny story to go with this soup...the reason why this is the "Most expensive soup I have EVER made" is because I was cooking in J's kitchen - as I usually do when I am here.  His cooking skills are limited and I like variety. 
SO! I cook.

I was making the soup and once he got home from work - I put the soup to boil again to prep the soup for the pasta. The stove hood (fan thingy above the stove) decided to clunk out on me.  I thought it was fine - I had it on maximum because there was a lot of steam from the soup boiling but when J saw it and I had it decreased down to medium circulation - he tried to push it on max and the button got super stuck and it wouldn't work.

In the end - it was determined that there was a short circuit in the wiring because the house is fairly old and it was just crap luck that I touched the fan buttons maybe twice that day and it broke.

After him humming and hawing over it and trying to figure out what's wrong - he comforted me with the fact that he wasn't mad that I "broke it" - it just was coincidence.

We discussed that it would cost an estimate of 500€ to replace and repair the wiring and he said:

"But it was really good soup and dinner rolls...just very expensive soup and dinner rolls..."

After telling a friend this - he said, "Those are Michelin star prices!"

😂

Ciao for now!
Dominique