Hello Mary Lu

PLEASE NOTE THE CORRECTIONS BELOW, AND I'VE WRITTEN THE PHYSICAL RECIPE ON DEC 31, 2005.

Okay, yes Jeneane tried to shove a bowl of her Famous Chicken Soup thru' the internet for me the other night. I wish the guys at Skype would have figured out how to solve this problem before they gave me VOIP. It's worth more money in the long run guys. Trust me on that.

Since Ms. Jeneane is sharing her family trade secrets AKA the Chicken Soup Recipe, and LA is about to get one heck of a good rain coming in today, I thought I'd share mine. May be this will start some kind of trend.

Follow along this goes pretty fast, requires you go to the grocery store and a basic grasp of playing with fire-- err... cooking.

Mary Lu's Kick-Ass Chicken Soup

Head out to the grocery store and pick up a couple roasted chickens. Here in LA chickens run about $5-6 each, around here Costco or Sam's Club may be cheaper. Do not buy the lemon herb or BBQ'ed ones-- they make lousy soup. The garlic or plain roasted chickens work fine. The reason for roasted vs.. fresh chickens-- they save time! Grab a 2-64oz cans of chicken stock, a bag of carrots, a small celery, a medium white onion, a bunch of parsley, and a garlic bulb if the chickens aren't garlic roasted, I like 1-2 medium-sized turnips, but you can do without if you can't find then or don't like them. Buy a bag of the best egg noodles you can find. Yes they can be fresh noodles vs. dried one. However follow the instructions on cooking times. The noodle width is your choice. Sometimes we use the skinny ones, other times the wide ones. But don't skimp on the quality. If you don't have Bay Leaves, pawn your soul and pick up a jar, it will be worth it. Oh yeah grab a loaf of French or sourdough bread and some wine. The go WITH the soup, not in it!

Okay you're home. Get yourself a glass of wine. This is supposed to be fun. Let the chickens cool. Clear off some counter space and get out the largest pot you own. Mine is a 12-qt Calphalon like this, and I'd like another one. (It is on my Amazon Wish List.) In my humble opinion it's the best large pot ever made. Reason is it's heavy, heats evenly and is tall. Tall pots are a secret to making good soup, because you are reducing the stock and water and intensifying the flavors. But I digress. Moving on...

Put the pot on the stove and pour in 1 and 1/2 (64 oz) CANS of the chicken stock and an equal amount of water. Put the other 1/2 qt of chicken stock in the 'fridge for later in case you need to add more liquid to the soup. Add 2-3 bay leaves. Bring the mixture to a simmer, while you...

Get out your chopping board and throw all the veggies in the sink and clean em! Use the peeler on the carrots and turnips. Skin the onion and the garlic, exposing the cloves. Save the green celery leaves for the soup. Now if you have a food processor get it out and put in the slicing and the chopping blade, it will save you time. If not get started chopping up the carrots, celery and turnips into bite-sized pieces you'll eat. But not too small. Mince the onion and 2-4 cloves of garlic fine. Chop the celery leaves and the parsley until you have about 1/2 cup total. Set those aside in the 'fridge until it's time to add them. By now the stock mixture is simmering. Add all the veggies to the stock, put on the lid and bring it to a SLOW BOIL.

While you're waiting for that to happen-- Clean off the chopping board and your hands. You are about the handle the chicken. ('Nuff said.) Take a sip of wine. Remove the chickens from the pans (save the drippings,) and de-bone chickens. I like Jeneane's idea of saving the wings and legs for a spare meal or snack, but it depends on the size of your chickens. Here in LA chickens are small. So I use both of them. But if I have large chickens, I save a half a chicken breast for salad instead. So let your conscience be your guide. Because this soup is a meal, rough cut the chicken large bite sized pieces-- not too small, or they will fall apart in the stock. Because I like the flavor, I chop-up and add the chicken skin, and the drippings from the bottom of the roasting pan to the pot for more flavor. However if your latest Cholesterol test was over 190-200, leave them out.

Now-- open the stock pot with a potholder, and stir it up. Remove the bay leaves if you can find them. Add the chicken and the parsley/celery leaves. Put the lid back on and reduce the fire to low simmer. Stir every 10-15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and find a baking sheet.

Slice up the bread, wrap it in foil, put it on the baking sheet and stick it in the oven to warm for 20-25 minutes at 325 degrees.

Since the maid isn't working today, go clean up the mess you've made, and finish your glass of wine-- for about 30-45 minutes.

*** Note on how to portion and freeze end of recipe.

At this point, if you're going to add salt and pepper to taste, now's the time. But if you've been told to knock off the salt, there's enough in the stock to make it taste good, trust me. Also if the stock has reduced too much add the reminder of the stock out of the 'fridge. If you add the stock, bring the soup back to a simmer or low boil. Then add the bag of noodles and stir and put the lid back on. Bring the soup to a slow boil it for 15-25 minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes, Or follow the times on the noodle package. Make sure the noodles are done. Take the lid off and let it rest for 5-10 minutes before serving, because at the moment it's too hot to eat.

Serve it up in big bowls, with the hot bread, with may be a bread topping of your choice, and finish off the bottle of wine with the rest of the table and enjoy!

***Portioning and Freezing, and options in place of noodles: Okay-- this is a large pot of soup. However if you're creative, and don't mind cooking once, freezing a portion of it and eating it several times and/or in several variations, you are getting your best bang for your bucks. Plus it's better for you than that canned stuff.

Here's how... If you stare into the bottom of the pot and there's way too much soup for you to eat in the next 2-3 days. Get out the cool whip, Tupperware containers and portion out some of the Chicken and stock mix and freeze it. You can make individual portions to take for lunch. Choice is yours. Do not over fill the containers, it expands when frozen. Also let it cool in the fridge or counter before you freeze it. It saves your electric bill. Also, I never freeze soup with noodles, rice or pasta. It turns to mush when thawed and reheated. So I save them to add later when I thaw it out.

When I thaw out the soup stock I normally microwave the container with the lid loosely on the container. Then transfer it to a pan, add some noodles, pasta or rice. (Leftover cooked rice is quick and works well.) Simmer until the noodles, pasta or rice are done. Add a bit of water or stock if it reduces too much.

One other thing-- if by chance you have leftover canned stock, put it in a Tupperware or plastic bag and toss it in the freezer. Use it within 6 months. Thawed stock can be added to mashed potatoes for skinny mashed potatoes or other recipes when needed.