Menu Planning Mayhem: Hot Foods for Winter!
For the past few weeks Menu Planning Mayhem has been a little out of the ordinary. Instead of sharing my weekly menu with you, I have been sharing recipes. Today I would like to continue with our “specialized” posts by sharing a new favorite soup recipe with you! Winter has finally arrived, Christmas is near, and soup is an incredibly cozy option for weeknight dinners.
Recently I tried out a new Chicken Noodle Soup recipe that I must share with you. Let me just say that I have tried many a Chicken Noodle Soup recipes and they never seem to turn out well. Perhaps my taste buds are just ruined by Campbell’s salty canned versions, but most recipes I try out lack flavor and the veggies never seem to get tender enough for me.
Needless to say, I have never found a recipe that I want to continue using. So, when my Father-in-law suggested that we have homemade chicken noodle soup, I set out to find a new recipe with the hope it would be my “go-to” recipe from here on out.
I think I have found it.
Two words: Paula Deen.
But this isn’t just a buttered up version of chicken noodle soup. No, this soup has cooking sherry, heavy cream and parmesan cheese as ingredients. Yeah.
I made this soup without any difficulty and served it to an enthusiastic family. Everyone partook of seconds and I might have gone back for thirds if it hadn’t been for a soon-to-be brother-in-law who finished off the pot. 
Let me just say that this is not your typical chicken noodle soup. This could be served for a special dinner party due to its unique and deep flavors! Trust me, your guests will not feel as though you opened a can of soup and microwaved it for them… they will feel spoiled.
We ate this soup with some left over corn bread, but french bread (as Paula suggests) would be an incredible combination.
I am going to reproduce the recipe here as well as tell you what alterations I made.
The Lady’s Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients:
4 bay leaves
3 chicken bouillon cubes
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon Paula Deen Lemon Pepper Seasoning
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 2 1/2 to 3-pound fryer (chicken), cut up
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
3 1/2 quart water
kosher salt and pepper to taste
For Step 2:
2 cups sliced carrots
2 cups sliced celery, with leafy green tops
2 1/2 cups uncooked egg noodles
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
3/4 cup heavy cream (optional)
1/3 cup cooking sherry
1 cup sliced mushrooms (I did not include this as Richard and I HATE mushrooms)
Fresh parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
Paula Deen Seasoned Salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper to taste
crusty french bread, for serving
Directions:
For the stock: add all ingredients to a soup pot. Cook until chicken is tender, about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove chicken from pot and set aside to cool. Remove and discard bay leaves and onion. You should have approximately 3 quarts of stock. When chicken is cool enough to touch, pick bones clean, discarding bones, skin, and cartilage. Set chicken aside.
For the soup: bring stock back to a boil, add carrots, and cook for 3 minutes. Add celery and continue to cook for 5 to 10 minutes (I cooked this for 25 minutes covered to make sure that the veggies were tender). Add egg noodles and cook according to directions on package. When noodles are done, add chicken, mushrooms, parsley, sherry and rosemary. Add Parmesan and cream, if using. Cook for another 2 minutes. Adjust seasoning, if needed, by adding seasoning salt and pepper. Enjoy along with a nice hot crusty loaf of French bread.
This recipe made approximately 10 servings!
Perhaps this lovely soup will find its way onto your family’s menu this week… Enjoy!
I would love to hear your favorite Hot Foods for Winter (posts can be old or new). Link them up below or share your family’s menu plan for the week! You can also feel free to share your recipe or menu plan in the comments section of this blog post. I look forward to seeing what you guys are cooking up!
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Hi Jessalyn! I’m sorry I linked up twice (feel free to remove one!) It was telling me I had an error…Anyway, I love mealplanning–and yet, I really struggle to actually get it written out! You’d think with 5 boys I’d have it down. Instead, I find that I menu plan a week at a time, based on what’s on sale. I’ll be eager to see what ideas I can get from this linkup! Thanks for posting!