Chicken Noodle Soup (The Neelys Recipe)

HOORAY! Cooler weather has finally arrived in Houston. (Now the question is, will it stay?) Yesterday, we opened up the windows and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

And in honor of the arrival of Fall weather, I decided to make...you guessed it....SOUP! Chicken Noodle to be exact.

I searched my magazines & the internet and finally settled on making The Neely's Chicken Noodle Soup. The reviews all raved about how wonderful it was, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Here's their recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large Vidalia onion, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, halved lengthwise and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• 2 medium carrots, halved lengthwise and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf
• Dash hot sauce (recommended: Tabasco)
• Dash Worcestershire sauce
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed into bite-size pieces
• 4 ounce egg noodles, about 1 cup
• 8 ounces frozen peas
• 1/4 cup freshly chopped dill leaves

Directions:

1. Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the onion, celery and carrots and saute until soft, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

2. Stir in the chopped garlic and saute until fragrant, 1 minute more.

3. Whisk in the flour and stir frequently until it coats the vegetables and makes a paste.

Cook until it reaches a pale blonde color, about 2 minutes.

4. Gradually whisk in the chicken stock, making sure there are no lumps. Add the bay leaf, hot sauce, and Worcestershire and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Let the soup simmer for 15 minutes to thicken and develop the flavors.

5. Reduce the heat and add the chicken and the noodles. Do not boil the chicken or it will become tough.

6. Add the peas and the dill...

And simmer gently for 10 more minutes.

7. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper, if needed. Ladle the soup into serving bowls and serve.

My Tid-Bits:

* I made very few changes to the original recipe. I only added 1 extra stalk of celery and 1/2 cup more of egg noodles (because many of the reviews said it needed more).

* This soup had a lot of flavor and was very filling. The dill was a little over powering (and I really like dill). If I make it again, I will decrease the dill and add some Italian seasoning. I also won't use the peas, simply because I don't really care for peas in the first place.

* DO NOT cook the chicken before you toss it in the pot. The hot broth will do the cooking. And the Neelys were right...not boiling the chicken makes it very tender!