"Feel-better" Chicken Soup

I had hoped that my sore throat was just due to the smog of Southern California. But the runny nose and slightly run-down feeling that followed confirmed that this was a healthy does of the cold. While the Hypochondriac in me screamed about the rare, deadly, terminal or just generally horrid diseases and conditions that this could be, the sane half of my mind said "If it don't kill you, somethin' else will someday, so call in sick to class and get some chicken soup going and then at least you'll feel better either way."

Now, if I ever end up teaching anyone about cooking, my first lesson to them will be: "There is NO substitute for homemade stock." There just isn't. Yeah, yeah I know the soup and stock aisle at the store offers a plethora of stocks, broths, and bullions; all ready to hop into your stockpot for making soup. But it just is not, and never will be the same. For starters, just take a look at the the salt-content of even the "reduced salt" versions of stocks and broths. No, for real "feel better" chicken soup that will actually make you feel better instead of thirsty, it's just gota be homemade.

This doesn't mean that I didn't think about cheating for this dish. Ohhh yeah as I meandered through the various aisles of the mega-mart, I fully intended on buying an already roasted chicken and just using that for my stock. But seeing that I would buy a roasted chicken for almost eight bucks, or a whole raw one for just over three smackeroos, I went with the raw one, I just had the butcher cut it into pieces for me.
After all, is 5 minutes of prep time and an hour of roasting worth 5 bucks to me? You bet it is.

I roasted this chicken with near-caveman like simplicity. I put the chicken pieces on a pan, sprayed them with some canola oil spritz, ground a little salt and pepper onto the skin (force of habit), and stuck the pan into a 350 degree oven for an hour and some change. I should have taken a picture of the results, but since I've already roasted a chicken before and shown it here, why be bothered with redundant bothersome redundancies?

I like stock making. It makes me feel like somewhat of a mad scientist. What goes into my stock? ANYTHING I WANT. Ahem... Well, you can put anything you would like into a stock, but since I was aiming for a more basic chicken stock, I went with basic ingredients. Big hunks of carrot, celery and onion, some garlic, some bay leaf, peppercorns, and the bones of my newly roasted chicken (the meat of which I had already shredded and reserved for later uses. What I like about making stock it that there is no need for fancy knifework for the veggies, all ya' gotta do is just hack and toss. It's very slasher-film-esque, in a vegetarian sort of way of course.

It all got tossed in a stockpot, and was covered in cold water just enough to cover the bones. It looked to be about a quart and some change I suppose.

Three hours of gentle simmering later and a quick pass through a strainer, and my chicken stock was golden, delicious, and ready. I didn't want to season it right away. I could have let it cool then put it in ice cube trays and froze it for later use, but this time around I was going to use it all.

I sauteed up some more fresh garlic, celery, onions and carrots, this time being much less the enraged vegetable slasher and much more the careful surgeon. A little more simmering with the vegetable mixture, a bit more bay leaf, black pepper, and a dash of ground coriander, and the soup was nearly ready. I cooked up some Orzo pasta (one of my favorite soup pastas ever) and added it to my chicken soup, along with the chicken chunks of course. Topped with a little bit of pecorino romano cheese for saltiness, and some fresh parsley for garnish, my soup was ready in about 20 minutes (if you forget about the hours of stock making and the hour for roasting the chicken pieces, of course).

As soon as that first full slurp of hit my lips, I could swear I hear the trepidation of the little buggers in my throat and sinuses. If illness could talk, the words would have been "RETREAAATTTTT!" Big chunks of chicken and veggies had a nice textural contrast with the tiny little al-dente Orzo's all melded together and left a lip-smacking goodness that can be described in a host of different ways, but is best left in the imagination of the reader, and on the palate of the lucky recipient.

Now, I'm not certain whether chicken soup really does cure illness. But chicken soup, when made from a home made stock with a little extra care from home instead of from a can (not to mention the near limitless applications of chicken stock to begin with), this is one home remedy that whether you are sick or not, will definitely make you "feel better."

472 to go!