Chicken Soup

Man, chicken soup can be so good. I've borrowed a cookbook for toddlers, First Foods, from a friend, and I've been cooking from it quite a bit. Yesterday I made chicken soup, and I did find the method's a bit messy and awkward (especially without a strainer). But the soup was very, very good.

I covered 3 bone-in chicken thighs with water and boiled them for 20 minutes, skimming the stuff that floated to the top. Then I added 6 peeled and halved carrots, a onion chopped in big pieces, two stalks of celery, chopped, and some of the celery tops from the middle, a handful of parsley from my sad little pot on the windowsill and two lanky vines of fresh thyme, a couple heaping teaspoons of Better Than Bouillon, some peppercorns and a bay leaf. More water. Simmered that for about 3 hours, then strained the soup through a colander into a bowl. Picked the chicken and carrots out of the colander, then cut and shredded, respectively. Tried to cut up some celery, too, but that was just a soggy mess.

Added the chicken and carrots to the broth, then put some of the soup, sans-noodles, in the fridge. Brought the rest to a boil, then added some egg noodles and cooked them 8 minutes. (My friend recommended that; the egg noodles get soggy if they sit as leftovers in the soup.) I accidentally bought the flat egg noodles and I really liked them, just like grandma's.

The recipe included refrigerating the soup overnight and skimming the fat from the top, but I didn't do that and didn't notice it being too rich.