How to Make Gourmet Chicken Soup

Chicken soup has been subscribed to help heal the common cold dating back to the days of Ancient Egypt. It's even rumored that Mahatma Gandhi, who was a strict vegetarian would eat chicken soup, as even he recognized the healing powers in this tasty treat.

Chicken soup is an excellent comfort food and many memories are created from eating homemade chicken soup made with love and care by their loved ones. This article will make it possible for you to create some of these kinds of memories straight from your own kitchen.

The first thing is to get a crock-pot, or if you don't have a crock-pot, get the largest pot you can find. You will be slow simmering your chicken soup. The aroma is going to fill the entire home all day and that is a great pleasure all in itself.

The base for the soup is chicken broth and French onion soup mix. The powdered French onion soup mix and don't use water, the chicken broth to mix it with. Get about four 16-ounce cans of any brand of chicken broth that you care to use.

The best kind of chicken to use is whatever is on sale. If you are time challenged, get boneless, skinless chicken. If you have extra time though, get chicken with the bones and skin, it will add more flavor to your soup. The extra time to get the bones and skin out before serving time will be worth it.

A delightful addition of meat to the soup, which will also make it a heartier meal, is sweet Italian sausage. Usually just a small amount is fine, and cut this up into small pieces. The seasoning in the sweet Italian sausage will be a great compliment to the other seasonings in the soup and will give it a distinctive, unique flavor that will stand out from ordinary chicken soup made without it.

Now it's time to decide which vegetables to use. Onions, and carrots are almost necessities. Chickpeas add an interesting texture to the soup and are high in protein. They also blend in famously with any seasoning that will get added later. Some people like to use corn, although that's purely a matter of taste. Mushrooms add additional flavor, aroma, and texture. Also, mushrooms add a huge nutritional boost. For a real treat, get shitake or portabella, or a blend of different fresh gourmet mushrooms.

When you have everything diced into nice bite size pieces added to the broth, you then want to add the seasonings. Garlic and lemon are wonderful, especially if you are making the soup to recover from a cold or flu. Honey is another seasoning that will do more than just taste good; it will help sooth a dry throat and is loaded with antioxidants. From that point, it's up to taste, and aroma. Basil, sage, and rosemary are all great ideas. Freshly ground pepper will give an added bit of spice also. Or for variety, use soy sauce from time to time. For the flu, add some ginger, it will help decrease feelings of nausea.

Now you are ready to cook! Allow the soup to simmer on low for six to eight hours. You will be able to tell when it's done when the vegetables are soft and the chicken is cooked thoroughly. If you have skin and bones, make sure to really strain through and remove these before serving. It's okay to leave a little skin in if that's your taste.

The last fifteen minutes before serving you want to cook the noodles. You can use just about any kind of noodle, egg noodles or rotini are good choices. Or, you can use rice or barley. Whatever your preference will work out just perfectly.

Grilled cheese sandwiches are a perfect accompaniment for a bowl of this delicacy you worked so hard to create. Or you can just serve with crackers. As this recipe makes a lot of soup, make sure and share some with a neighbor, or freeze it for a day that you don't have so much time to simmer. Eat well and enjoy!