Chicken Soup...

I would like to introduce you to a life long friend of mine, Michal.  She is a multitalented woman who has an eye for all things beautiful.  On top of having wonderful taste, she is a fantastic cook.  One of my favorite meals she prepares is her chicken soup (I literally crave this stuff).  Over here at the Brandied Pair, we don’t cook so much.  So, the majority of our recipes will be coming from this lovely lady.  With that being said, Lets Cook!

For some, cooking a whole chicken may be a scary feat. Don’t worry! It is honestly a lot easier than you think. This is hands-down my favorite recipe. I make this on a regular basis. What I have for you here is just the basics. Depending on the mood you’re in, you can add a few extra ingredients to change the style of the soup. For instance, you can add some diced tomatoes if you want more of an Italian taste or add some cubed potatoes to make it heartier, maybe play around with the spices like adding curry to give it an Indian flair… The options are limitless.

Ingredients:

4-5 lb. Whole Chicken *only 2/3^rd of the cooked chicken will be used in soup*

2 Carrot Stalks (approximately 1.5 cups)

3 Celery Sticks

1 Medium Onion

1 cup Mushrooms

 ½ Bag of Orzo Pasta

1 qt. Chicken Stock

1 tsp. Minced Garlic

1 tbls. All Seasoning

1 ½ tbls. Salt

1 tsp. Pepper
2 tbls Chicken Bouillon

*Optional: Hand-Held Colander, Pair of (disposable) Gloves

Place chicken in a large pot and fill with water until chicken is fully covered. Bring to a boil. Turn heat down to medium-low, cover with lid and cook for 1.5 hours. Carefully place cooked chicken in an empty container/bowl. While chicken is cooling, prepare your vegetables and place in the left over water  and turn heat on medium. You may have some foam and fat left over in the soup. Use a hand-held colander to skim it out. Once chicken is at a tolerable temperature, pull chicken off the bone. (I wear gloves when doing this to help with the heat and keeping my hands clean.) Place 2/3^rd of the chicken into the soup. (I personally try to keep all the dark meat with the portion that goes into the soup. For those of you unsure, the breast of the chicken is white meat while the thigh and leg are dark. The thigh and leg are literally a shade or two darker than the rest of the chicken.) Add garlic, All Seasoning, salt, pepper and pasta in soup. Serve when pasta is cooked and vegetables are cooked to your liking.

*Store the rest of your chicken for Chicken and Pepper Pasta, recipe to come soon!*