Homemade Chicken Soup

When the weather turns cold as it has been these past days (off and on, hooray SF Bay Area), I like to heat things up with comfort foods. One of my favorites is homemade chicken soup, with fresh veggies and herbs. I like to make a vat of it, and keep it around for a few days. You might want to reduce my recipe by half if you're solo, or if you're not too keen on slurping on tasty chicken & veggies for more than one meal (but come on, it's great stuff, so go ahead and get your biggest pot out!) I really hope it gets cloudy again soon, so that I can make up a batch of this for my family! Pairings: Goes great with biscuits, Pillsbury Grands are my favorite because you're busy making the soup, and they only take 10 minutes on average with no brains attached. Any of your favorite French or Italian bakery breads are delicious as well!


Home-Cooked Chicken Soup
You'll need a big stew pot, one large enough to hold at least 2 gallons easily (don't fill it to the brim, whatever you do!!), so you can allow for bubble-trouble. Now: Begin!

Ingredients:
1 to 1.5 Gallons (16-24 cups) Water or chicken stock
Bouillon cubes, as needed if using water
4 breasts chicken, 1-2cm cubed cut (as in, two double breasted sections, however your store sells them)
1/2-3/4 large onion, large to medium dice
1 red bell pepper, large dice
3-4 sticks celery sliced lengthwise & chopped to 1 cm increments
5 cloves garlic, small dice
1 jalapeno pepper, small diced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1-2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon hot paprika or chili powder (Some like it HOT!)
3-4 cups mixed frozen veggies

1. boil stock or water & bouillon, and add in your cubed chicken meat. It will bubble away, and probably froth a little bit. I scoop off excess froth (usually result of boiling bones, so you shouldn't have too much if you went with the breast meat) but it won't kill you and just tastes like chicken... just looks a bit strange. 
2. Add in your spices (Oregano, thyme, rosemary, black pepper, paprika), a bit at a time, while the chicken boils. Use your nose! If you like the smell or taste of a specific one, or you're not keen on another, go with it. Cut back if you're not feeling it, or add a bit more. I like to grind mine to a powder in a coffee grinder so they don't taste flaky in the soup.
3.  When your chicken is cooked through (no longer pink in the middle) start on your veggies. I like to pre-chop/ dice my veggies and set them aside so they're ready to go. In a large fry pan, gently sweat your veggies on low: starting with onion, celery, jalapeno red bell pepper and garlic. They may get a little brown if you're inattentive and forgetful like I am, but they should be okay. Don't over brown though! Be careful especially of the garlic, which gets bitter if overcooked. 
4. Add your fresh veggies into the soup, and simmer on low for five minutes.
5. Add in your frozen mixed veggies, again using your judgment on how many veggies you really want in your soup (after all, it's for you, not me, silly).
6. Check your broth! Is it crowded in that pot? Do you need some more? Is it too ... soupy?! Increase your water/bouillon or broth now if desired. This is why the ingredients allow for 1-1.5 gallons of the stuff, because sometimes, it just needs more. If you've got too much (that's not a REAL problem, you know, broth is awesome!) you can ladle some out into a separate container for boiling pasta or drinking when sick. Or throw it away. Like a dork. Grr. (Just kidding!)

And that's it! It's very simple, and once you get used to making your own you can add in extra broth and noodles, other vegetables (zucchini goes well, but over cooks easy, so I tend to avoid it). I honestly NEVER buy canned chicken soup anymore, because it's so easy to mix up a tastier, healthier version if you just have a bit of time. This keeps very well, and I occasionally fill a leftover large yogurt container with it (just remember to bag it afterwards too, because they're not such quality freezer-ware) and freeze it for a rainy or lazy day.

Happy soup-supping!