Preparation / Directions:
First, take the chicken and wash it thoroughly -- that means
both inside and out! Remove the giblets, scrub out the internal
cavity under cold running water, and scrape away anything that
doesn't look edible. (But DO NOT remove the chicken skin or any
of the fat! You need the skin to make a rich stock.)
Next, take a crock pot and place the chicken and giblets
into it. Then drop in the diced onions, the 1/2 c of celery, the
1/2 c of minced parsley, the garlic, chopped carrots and bay
leaves, poultry seasoning and *2* quarts of water. Then, with a
spoon, evenly distribute the seasoning mixture around the
chicken, turn the crock pot to high, and cook for at least six
hours (or better still, OVERNIGHT). Remember, the longer you
cook, the richer the base stock and the more tender the chicken.
While the chicken is slow-cooking, it's a good time to
prepare your noodles. Go ahead and boil them according to
package directions... but DO NOT COOK THEM UNTIL DONE! Keep in
mind that you're going to drop them into a soup, so you want them
el dente (firm), otherwise they'll turn to pure mush by the time
you eat them. Furthermore, you want a small percent of the
starch in the noodles to cook into the soup to thicken it
slightly -- if you cook the noodles all the way, the soup's
consistency will be flat and thin.
After the noodles are cooked, butter them slightly and set
them aside.
When the chicken is tender, take a set of tongs or a
strainer spoon, remove it from the crock pot (it may tend to fall
apart, but that's okay), and set it on a platter to cool. At
this point, strain out all the seasoning vegetables from the
stock, place the stock into a metal bowl, and place the bowl into
the refrigerator or freezer until the chicken fat congeals (which
should take about 1 hour). Meanwhile, pick the chicken off the
bones and, with a sharp knife, chop it into bit-sized pieces.
Then, in a heavy 12-inch skillet, melt the butter and
saute the sliced onions, mushrooms, and carrots until they're
tender. Then drop in the chopped chicken meat. And over
medium-low heat, cook it into the vegetables for about 10
minutes.
While the chicken and vegetables are sauteing, remove the
chicken stock from the refrigerator, skim off all the fat, and
place the skimmed stock into a soup pot, along with the remaining
2 quarts of water. At this point, you should season the soup
stock to taste with salt and pepper.
Now drop in the sauteed chicken, mushrooms, onion rings
and diced carrots -- along with the sherry, the Tabasco*, and as
soon as it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer the
soup for about 30 minutes to allow all the flavors to thoroughly
blend.
When you're ready to eat, ladle out heaping helpings of
the piping hot soup into bowls, garnish with a sprinkling of
thinly sliced green onions, and serve with
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