Serve up warmth, comfort with homemade chicken noodle soup

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Here's a primer for new cooks on making chicken noodle soup, the ultimate comfort food.

Making chicken noodle soup is a great rainy Saturday afternoon project for the guy who can't cut grass, play golf or go hunting, fishing or jogging because of the weather.

Making the broth is the most important part of the soup preparation. It's also a test for a frugal cook because the chicken and vegetables used in making the broth are discarded. You've extracted the entire flavor and texture of the chicken and vegetables in the long simmering process. The meat and vegetables removed from the broth are characterless. Throw them out.

Once the golden-colored chicken broth is made, cool it and pour it into shallow containers. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, remove the broth from the refrigerator and skim off the solid chicken fat that has congealed on the top of the broth. Save a couple of tablespoons of the chicken fat to cook the chicken in when preparing the actual chicken noodle soup.

The final stage, making the soup, is straightforward and simple. The resulting soup isn't fancy but it is eminently satisfying.

Chicken Broth for chicken noodle soup

2 chicken fryers

5 1/2 quarts water

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon black pepper

3 onions, quartered

3 celery ribs with leaves, chopped coarsely

3 carrots, scraped and chopped coarsely

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1 tablespoon parsley, chopped

1/2 tablespoon dried thyme leaves

3 bay leaves

Clean and cut both chicken fryers into pieces. Remove breast meat from bones and place breasts in refrigerator for use later. Other pieces go into a 10- to 12-quart boiling pot. Add water and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. As chicken comes to a boil, remove foam. This foam will dissolve quickly, so be prepared. AFTER removing foam, add all other ingredients slowly. Continue boiling for 2 1/2 to 3 hours to reduce stock by 1/3 (from 5 1/2 quarts down to 3 1/2 to 4 quarts).

The goal now is to clarify the broth or stock. You can use a fine-mesh wire colander and moist cheesecloth or whatever straining method works for you to remove most solids from the stock.

Cool the container of broth rapidly. A large ice chest is big enough to accommodate the container of broth and works well. Place the container of broth in the chest, put ice around the container. Allow to cool until fat has solidified on the surface of the stock. Remove this fat.

When the broth has cooled, pour it into shallow containers, cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use in making soup, preferably overnight or up to 3 days.

The remains in the colander should be discarded. They're full of chicken meat, skin, veggies, small and large bones.

When ready to make soup, remove the broth from the refrigerator. Skim off additional congealed fat from the surface of the broth. Reserve some of the chicken fat for cooking the chicken breast meat in, when making the soup.

Note: Defatted broth can be refrigerated for up to three days. At that point it can be brought back to a boil for 3 to 4 minutes and saved again for a couple of days more without freezing. Remove the solidified fat after it cools. This can be repeated a couple more times over a period of about 10 days without freezing the broth. Each time, the stock is thickening and concentrating the flavors for the next step, building the soup.

Makes 3 1/2 to 4 quarts broth, and about 2 quarts concentrated broth if you have reboiled and skimmed fat a couple of times.

Chicken Noodle Soup

2 to 4 tablespoons reserved chicken fat

2 boneless chicken breasts, reserved from the fryers used in making the broth

8 cups chicken broth

3 carrots, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 onion, coarsely chopped (optional)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon red pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)

1 cup frozen peas

3 ounces (about 1 1/2 cups) dried egg noodles

Melt chicken fat in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cut the chicken breasts into slivers and cook in the chicken fat just until all the pinkness has gone. Remove the chicken and chop into pieces about the size of small marbles.

In a large pot, bring the chicken broth to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Stir in the bits of carrot and onion.

After the carrots and onion have cooked for about 5 minutes, stir in the chicken, black and red peppers. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes. At this point, you have to taste to decide whether to add the salt. If you used a concentrated broth, you may not need the additional seasoning.

Add the peas and noodles and cook until noodles are tender, which happens pretty quickly. You want the peas to retain their bright green color and the noodles to be tender but still slightly firm, al dente, not mushy.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

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There are dozens of variations on chicken noodle soup. Here is another to try.

Chicken-Barley Soup

One 3- to 3 1/2-pound frying chicken, cut up

6 quarts water

1 1/2 cups barley (use 1/4 cup per quart water)

1 teaspoon thyme

2 bay leaves

6 whole cloves

1 1/2 cups diced onions

1 1/2 cups diced celery

6 tablespoons instant chicken bouillon

16-ounce package frozen mixed vegetables

8-ounce package medium noodles

Place fryer, water, barley, thyme, bay leaves, cloves, onion, celery and bouillon in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, lower heat to simmer. Stir, cover and cook for 1 hour.

Remove chicken pieces with slotted spoon. Add frozen vegetables to soup, cook for 10 minutes.

Cut up chicken pieces (skin if desired). Discard bones and return cutup chicken to pot.

Add noodles and cook for 15 minutes more on simmer. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Chicken Noodle Fine Udon Soup

1 whole, free-range chicken, cut into pieces

2 celery stalks, cut in half (plus 1 cup chopped celery, reserved for last 15 minutes of cooking time)

2 carrots, cut in half (plus 1 1/4 cups chopped carrots, reserved for last 15 minutes of cooking time)

1 small onion, cut in half (plus 1/3 cup chopped onion, reserved for last 15 minutes of cooking time)

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh basil

1 large bay leaf

Tamari to taste (a few splashes)

Freshly ground pepper to taste

8-ounce package organic Asian fine udon pasta (available at natural food stores)

In a large pan of water, add chicken pieces, vegetables, garlic and herbs. Boil for 1 hour.

Strain broth and discard vegetables, remove chicken meat from the bone and return to soup broth with remaining uncooked chopped celery, carrots and onions; cook for about 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

In a separate pan, bring water to a boil and add 8 ounces of pasta. Cook according to package directions, about 6 minutes. Drain and rinse pasta.

Add the pasta to the chicken and vegetable broth mixture and stir until heated. Season with tamari and pepper to taste. Serve in individual serving bowls, dividing vegetables, pasta and chicken evenly.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Chicken and Tortellini Soup

6 chicken thighs (about 2 1/2 pounds), trimmed of excess fat

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

2 carrots, diced

2 stalks celery, sliced

1 large onion, chopped

1/3 cup soy sauce

9 ounce package fresh or frozen cheese tortellini

Brown chicken in hot oil in Dutch oven or large saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove chicken from pan. Reserving about 1 tablespoon fat, drain off excess.

Add carrots, celery and onion; saute 3 minutes.

Stir in 5 1/2 cups water, soy sauce and chicken. Bring to boil; cover and simmer 15 minutes. Remove chicken; cool.

Meanwhile, cook tortellini according to package directions; drain.

Remove skin and bone from chicken and cut meat into bite-size pieces. Stir chicken into soup; bring to boil. Stir in tortellini and heat through.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

(Recipe from Kikkoman)

Tips on making chicken noodle soup:

Remove as much fat as possible from the fresh chicken before adding the pieces to the stock pot.

Be sure to skim off the foam or scum as soon as it rises to the surface. This clarifies the chicken broth.

Refrigerate chicken broth to allow chicken fat to congeal on the top of the broth. Remove as much chicken fat as possible.

Add carrots, bits of chicken, peas and noodles to simmering broth at separate times to ensure that these ingredients retain desired textures and colors.

Chicken broth can be frozen for up to 3 months. Chicken soup can also be frozen for up to 3 months. If you're planning to freeze chicken soup, omit the chopped onions because the frozen onions in the soup will intensify in flavor.

Tommy C. Simmons is food editor of The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.