Off-Campus Kitchen: Non-sketchy chicken soup
You’re hungover. You’re feeling sorry for yourself. You’re feeling sorry for your roommate’s boyfriend, who has a violent stomach flu that prevents him from leaving your bathroom for the next 32 hours. True story.
Hopefully, you took my advice last week and roasted a chicken, leaving you with a whole carcass to dispose of. You were alone on Valentine’s Day, ice has returned to Hanover and you have so much work to do — all these are excellent reasons to employ the best all-around cure I know of: homemade chicken noodle soup.
I grew up on what a certain roommate of mine calls “sketchy” chicken noodle soup. It’s sketchy because I used to make the broth out of a solid, bright yellow cube made of sodium and god-knows-what (Knorr Bouillon all the way)! It was this same roommate who, initially possessing the culinary skills required to cook toast, figured out on her own how to make chicken stock from scratch, a skill she then imparted to me. The ginger is her secret ingredient, and it’s changed how I think about the flavor of chicken broth.
You can also use this stock in any recipe that calls for chicken broth; store the remaining broth in jars in the fridge or freezer, depending how soon you plan to use it. Risottos! Flavorful quinoa! Chicken potpie! Go nuts. As with the bread recipe, this requires you be in the next room for several hours. Use the time to actually do the reading for your 10 the next day.
Homemade chicken stock
Ingredients
6 chicken drumsticks, or the leftover carcass from a whole roast chicken
1 diced celery stalk
12 cups of water
Fresh sliced ginger — use a nub about 2 inches in diameter
Salt
1. Combine all the ingredients to a pot and bring liquid to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat and simmer the broth for two hours, stirring occasionally, until it has adequate flavor.
3. Strain out the solids (I used a colander), reserving the broth. If you want, keep the remaining chicken meat for soup.
To make chicken noodle soup:
Cook pasta and sliced vegetables — I like carrots and celery — in boiling water. In a separate saucepan, heat the broth. Combine for the best soup you’ve ever tasted.