chicken noodle soup or as i like to call it: an edible hug

Apologies for the recent blogging hiatus but the last couple of weeks I have been overwhelmed with a disgusting, putrid, viral bug of some form so haven't had the energy to focus on much other than getting well. When you're single being sick really is the pits. This was honestly the first time that I really missed being in a relationship and having someone around to be able to do pharmacy trips and make me chicken noodle soup, which is the only thing I felt like eating during my days being bedridden but I just didn't have the energy to go shopping let alone cook.

But now that I am better I am able to make it for myself and feel happy about being single again. It also coincides perfectly with this shitty change of weather in Sydney. Brrrrrrrrr and Grrrrrrrrrr.

So when I originally went shopping for this I was on the hunt for Alphabet Noodles - what the heck happened to Alphabet Noodles??? Why would people stop making them? Nothing beats getting a bowl of soup and slopping it everywhere whilst trying to spell out your name on the table. It is a travesty I tells you! I think I will write a letter of complaint, gosh dang! So I got the next best thing - Dinosaur Noodles.

Stock
1 chicken Maryland
1/2 an onion
1 stick of celery
1/2 a large carrot
2 cups of salt reduced chicken stock
2 cups of water
4 sprigs of thyme
2 sprigs of parsley
S&P

Soup
Chicken from the Maryland for the stock
1/2 a large carrot, finely diced
1/2 a cob of corn, sliced from the cob
1 stick of celery, finely sliced
2 sprigs of parsley, roughly chopped
S&P1/2 cup of Dinosaur Noodles

Pre-warning: I recommend cooking the stock the night before you want to make the soup so that the night you actually cook the soup it doesn't take hours to create.

Take all of the stock ingredients and place them in a pot, cover and place on the lowest possible heat. I put my stock on for about 2 hours whilst I went grocery shopping and cooked dinner for the evening.

After 2 hours let the stock cool, transfer to a contain and place in the fridge overnight. By cooling in the fridge it will separate the fat from the stock. When you go to cook your soup remove the stock from the fridge and skim and discard the fat off the top of the stock using a teaspoon. The stock will now have solidified so will be like jelly, this is a sign of a good stock. Remove the Maryland from the jelly, place the jelly and stock veges in to a pot with 2 cups of water and place on a low heat for about 15 minutes so that the jelly completely dissolves.

Whilst the stock is on the heat, remove the skin from the Maryland and remove the meat from the bones, the meat may look discoloured but it should only be due to the cooking process and then being cooled overnight, if your chicken was fresh there won't be any issue. Tear the chicken meat in to small pieces for the soup. Once the stock is heated take a sieve and strain the stock in to a bowl, separating all of the vegetables and other ingredients which can now be thrown out.
Take your separated stock and place in the pot again and add the torn chicken pieces, carrot, corn, celery and 1/2 a cup of water. Put on a medium heat and cook for 20 minutes.

When the soup is cooking bring a pot of water to the boil and cook the Dinosaur Noodles. I like to cook my noodles separately so that it doesn't make the soup too starchy and I can ensure that the noodles aren't overcooked. Once the noodles are done strain them and add them to the soup and remove the soup from the heat. Add the chopped parsley and a good crack of salt and pepper.

Whilst the soup cools a little, pop a bit of toast in to the toaster and cut yourself up some cute little soldiers for dunking in the broth and you're ready to go.

I don't own any soup bowls at the moment so I just ate straight from the pot - why you ask - because it doesn't even matter when I am the only one eating it.