I spent a little time with the Ji last night after quite a hiatus, and (as usual), her mom had left instructions on what should be used up for dinner.
Now usually Ellen just leaves me a list of the raw ingredients and leaves me to my own devices when it comes to their combination and service thereof. Occasionally she will request a certain dish, but there’s still usually a lot of latitude in what I can do with it. When I was babysitting regularly, it was like my own personal Iron Chef, twice a week.
But I was surprised last night when I picked up my instructions, and they said specifically “chicken noodle soup with the chicken and carrots and pasta from last night.”
Wow. Game on.
I pulled out the specified items, grabbed a couple of other promising ingredients, and gave it some thought. Then I threw a bunch of stuff in a pot. And delicious came out. It turned out so well that I thought I should share it.
Let’s face it, folks: it’s wintertime. It’s cold. Your immune system may not be showing its best face to the world. When that’s the case, it can make you crave some nutritional comfort for serious.
To that end, I present today’s entry.
Ingredients:
- 2 c. pulled roast chicken (you’ll want about a 3:2 ratio of dark to light meat)
- 1 c. carrots, chopped
- 1/2 c. shallots, roughly chopped (if you sub onions, chop fine and add about 1 tsp. garlic powder)
- 1/2 c. peas, rinsed and drained
- 4 c. chicken or veggie stock
- 2 c. water
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 Tbps. butter
- 2 Tbsp. flour
- approx. 30 strands of linguini, broken into thirds
- salt and black pepper to taste
What to do:
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium high-heat. Add the butter. Once it’s bubbling nicely, toss in your shallots and carrots. Cook until shallots are translucent and carrots are beginning to get tender, about 5 min.
Add the flour, and stir constantly until the carrots and shallots are evenly coated and golden and the flour doesn’t look starchy anymore. Add the chicken and peas, still stirring, to ensure everything gets a little touch of the roux. Once it’s all nicely incorporated, add the stock and the water. Give it another stir, cover the pot, and leave it alone for awhile to let the stock reach a simmer.
When the stock has begun to simmer, do a little taste test. Add the salt and pepper in the quantities that please you. I like a lot of pepper in mine, and even a pinch of paprika. Let things simmer along for 7-10 minutes, until the chicken begins to come apart a little. Then reduce the heat a smidge and toss in your noodles.
Check on the pot every 2-3 minutes, because you’ll want to turn off the heat as soon as the noodles hit al dente so they don’t turn to complete mush. Ladle into bowls, and feel immediately better.
Serves approximately 8. I haven’t had any experience with how it keeps and reheats, so if you decide to make it, please leave some comments on how it stores!