Chicken Noodle Soup

“To feel safe and warm on a cold wet night, all you really need is soup.”
- Laurie Colwin

I had been craving homemade chicken noodle soup for weeks.  The weather was cold, dreary, and perfect for a steaming bowl.  It's not that chicken noodle soup is difficult to make, but it can be a bit time consuming what with all the chopping and picking meat from bones.  You can take a short cut and use all boneless/skinless breasts or a store-bought rotisserie chicken, or if you are really pressed for time *eek, I can't believe I'm suggesting this* use canned chicken.  At any rate, I finally said, forget this mess, I'm going to have my chicken noodle soup.  The results?  Well, Progresso and Healthy Choice, eat your heart out.  If you don't like egg noodles, you could add your choice of rice - it just might take a bit longer to cook.

Chicken Noodle Soup

4 14.5oz cans low-sodium Chicken broth (I prefer Swanson)

7 1/4 cups water

5lb fryer (roasting hens are not as juicy)

1 small onion (2" diam)

4 medium carrots

4 stalks celery

1/2 TB rotisserie seasoning

2 1/2 - 3 1/4 cups egg noodles

1.  Place chicken in microwave safe dish with lid (Pampered Chef Covered Baker, Corelle, Corning Ware, etc).  Microwave on HIGH 25-35 minutes.  Check temperature in thigh and breast (should be 165º).  If the legs look like they are drying out (brownish/red), and breast is almost done, remove from microwave and let stand covered.  It will continue to cook.  *I cooked mine 30 minutes, thigh was done, breast was almost done, added 7 minutes, and the legs were too done to use*  You are going to be boiling the chicken with the vegetables, so even if it's not all the way done, it will continue to cook.  You just don't want to be pulling raw/bloody meat from the bone.

2.  While the chicken cooks, halve onion (green end to root end), place cut side on board and thinly slice.

3.  Wash and trim celery (white and leafy parts).  Thinly slice on diagonal.

4.  Peel and trim carrots (both ends).  Thinly slice on diagonal.

5.  Add broth, water, vegetables, and rotisserie seasoning to large (7qt-ish), heavy stock pot or Dutch oven.  *I used a 7.8qt Lodge enamel coated cast iron Dutch oven*  Bring to a simmer.

6.  Carefully remove chicken from baking dish and pick all usable meat from the bone, including any meat from the back (it's really tender!).  Chop into 1/2" chunks.  Add to broth (broth does not have to be simmering before you add the chicken, just add chicken as you pick/chop it).

7.  Once vegetables are tender (about an hour and 15 minutes from the time I turned on the cap), add between 2 1/2 and 3 1/4 cups egg noodles.  Stir frequently until noodles are tender (10-15 minutes).

Granny's Christmas Dip version 2.0

"A shot of Tabasco sauce. It burns, but you don't have to worry about the headache anymore."
- Jimmy Reed

My family loves Tabasco.  Let me rephrase that, my uncles, dad, and brother love Tabasco.  The flavor is unlike any other hot pepper sauce.  You can't substitute wing sauce or any other cayenne-based sauce and get the same results.  The others have far too much vinegar.  My granny made this dip every holiday, and it was a favorite of everyone in attendance.  My dad and uncles would gather around the bowl, and if you weren't quick enough you didn't get any before they had it eaten.  I have been tasked with deciphering the flavor profile of that dip.  Eighteen years since I last tasted it the way Granny made it, but I can still feel the back-of-the-throat burn that you don't think is coming and the distinct flavor the French dressing lends.  Several years ago, my papaw gave me vague instructions as to the ingredient list, but no measurements.  Once upon a time, I came very close to hitting the nail on the head.  I wrote down the measurements I used and then promptly LOST the paper.  This year I found one version I had written out, and I think this may be the recipe I concocted the year everyone "oohed" and "aahed" over just how close I'd come to getting it right.  Granny passed away when I was only 13, and with no warning it was coming I had no time to get copies of the recipes held in her memory.  This is as close as I'll get to tasting Granny's dip again.

Granny's Christmas Dip version 2.0

2 8oz cream cheese, room temp
1/2 c mayonnaise (We use Hellmann's Mayonnaise with Olive Oil)
2 tsp Worcestershire
6-10 tsp Tabasco (I used 10!)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 c French dressing


1.  Cream all ingredients together.

2.  Chill.

3.  Serve with crackers or veggies.

Note: if you add more dressing, add more tabasco

Oven Roasted Onion Potato Wedges

"I only like food without color, like potatoes, bread, and pasta."
- Emma Roberts

I wonder if these would qualify as "without color" potatoes?  This is NOT an original recipe, but it is so delicious.  This is one of those foods my mom brings to just about every barbecue themed gathering, and we take along the necessary ingredients when we go on extended vacations as well.  Potatoes are a versatile food - you've got your crispy-on-the-outside tender-on-the-inside french fried potatoes, your thin and crispy potato chips, your velvety smooth whipped potatoes, your chunky mashed-with-the-skin-on potatoes, your too-hot-to-handle smothered-in-butter-and-sour-cream baked potatoes, your crispy crunchy hash browns and nuggets of shredded potatoes called tots or home fries that you aren't sure whether they are actually a breakfast food or a school-lunch side-dish, your creamy and cheesy comfort-food potato soup, and your pan-fried potato pancakes.  Shoot, you can even use potatoes to put a crust on things!  Now that is versatility!  This Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue moment brought to you by the humble, yet mighty, potato.  My mom typically cuts the potatoes into cubes.  I decided to jazz it up a bit by cutting them into wedges.  The process is the same regardless of what shape you want the potatoes to be in, and they taste delicious no matter what.

 Oven Roasted Onion Potato Wedges

Difference in color is due to half cooking in pan with chicken

8 smallish or 4-6 medium potatoes of any variety
1/3 cup cooking oil
1 packet onion soup mix

1.  Cut each potato into 8 wedges - halve potatoes lengthwise, place cut side down and halve lengthwise, carefully halve lengthwise once more.

2.  Mix together oil and soup mix in a glass bowl or measuring cup.  Pour over cut potatoes and stir to coat.

3.  Scatter around the chicken or on a separate greased, foil-lined pan.  Bake at 425° for up to 45 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes, checking for doneness at 30-35 minutes. *If you do them on a separate pan, they will get done sooner*

Oven Roasted Butterflied Whole Chicken

"What's the two things they tell you are healthiest to eat? Chicken and fish. You know what you should do? Combine them, eat a penguin."
- Dave Attell

Chicken is one of those meats that you can dress up or down any which way you choose.  A roasted chicken is an excellent base for other meals (Chicken Salad), and it pairs so easily with a million side dishes that you can serve it every night and never have the same exact meal.  I prefer to roast mine with the skin on but without any additional spices or seasonings.  You can certainly rub on some rotisserie seasoning, but I peel the skin off before I eat it so to me it seems superfluous.  You can roast it whole in about an hour-and-a-half, but if you butterfly the bird it takes half that time.  If you are unfamiliar with how to butterfly a chicken, Alton Brown has a YouTube video showing the process (approximately 01:00 - 01:54).  It may seem daunting at first, but once you get the knack it is actually pretty easy and gets dinner done much faster.

Oven Roasted Butterflied Whole Chicken

1 ~5.5 pound whole fryer (tends to be juicier than a roasting hen)
sharp kitchen shears/scissors

1.  Remove chicken from packaging and pat dry with paper towels.

2.  Turn chicken breast side down.  Using shears cut through the meat and rib bones on each side of the back bone from "laying" end to "neck" end.  Remove back bone.  You may choose to simmer this with vegetables and herbs to make stock, or you may discard it.  It makes good gravy base as well.

3.  Cut through flesh surrounding the keel bone that divides the breasts.  Remove and discard keel bone.

4.  Pat inside of chicken dry.

5.  Place breast side up on a greased pan (I used a jelly roll pan greased with Crisco).

6.  Turn wing tips under upper wing bone to secure them.  This also keeps wing tips from burning.

7.  Place Onion Potato Wedges around chicken and roast at 425° for 45 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer registers 165° in the thigh.  Remove to cutting board to carve.

Deviled Eggs

“I have met a lot of hardboiled eggs in my time, but you're twenty minutes.”
- Oscar Wilde

The first few times I boiled eggs, I made the mistake of letting them become "twenty minutes."  In other words they were rubbery and the yolks were an unsavory green on the outside and chalky in texture.  It took me a couple of tries before I gained any proficiency in making boiled eggs, and you can't make deviled eggs unless you can boil eggs.  Apparently through the years I've gotten better at making deviled eggs, because they are always the first thing gone at family reunions.  My brother will sit down to a plate of half a dozen at a time, and I boiled/deviled 12 dozen eggs for his wedding last year.  I don't recommend doing that unless you have someone helping you peel them.  My thumbs were shredded by the time I finished!  My mom likes to make sandwiches with them.  My daughter loves them.  Eh, enough talk, let's get down to it, shall we?

Deviled Eggs

12 eggs

water

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 tsp mustard

2 tsp vinegar (I used cider, you could use white)

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1.  Place eggs in a large pot.  Cover with cold water.  Add baking soda.  Bring to a hard boil for exactly 10 minutes.  Stir them if you think of it.

2.  Remove from heat.  Drain, and return eggs to pan.  Shake the pan to break the shells.  Peel eggs under cool water.  Rinse to remove any shell fragments.  Place peeled eggs on a paper towel-lined plate.

3.  Mix remaining ingredients together in a medium-size bowl, and carefully slice eggs lengthwise.  Place egg halves on serving platter, pop yolks into the filling bowl.  

4.  Use a potato masher, pastry blender, or handheld mixer to blend filling together.  You want a creamy consistency.  If there are large lumps, break them up with a fork and blend some more.

5.  I use a 1 Tb cookie scoop to fill the eggs.  You can spoon or pipe it in if you wish.

6.  Chill until ready to serve.  You can top them with curry powder, paprika, dill, relish, or extra black pepper, or eat them plain.