YUMMY!! Ok, can I say that again? Or shall I say DELICIOSO!! Ok, well here is the recipe and the steps.
Chicken and Rice Soup
1 cup of minute rice (I made mine in the microwave so I could start on other steps, make according to the direction on the box, and set aside after cooking)
9 bouillon cubes
2 quarts of water (8 cups)
2 whole chicken breasts, with skin and bones, this makes for a scrumptious broth.
Boil all of this together on med-high heat, until the chicken is no longer pink.
After the chicken is done cooking (supposed to be about 20 minutes or so, mine took longer because it was frozen), cut into cubes. It doesn't need to be perfect. Heck, you can even shred it!! Keep the water and bouillon you boiled the chicken in, you need this as your stock.
1 Carrot
1 Celery stalk
1 Onion
Onto the other half of this recipe. Dice up carrots, celery, onion, and other veggies that you like in your chicken soup. Sauté this in a skillet with about 1-2 tablespoons of butter and the diced up chicken. Just until the onions are soft and pearlescent (yep, that's what it's called when they are "see through" onions). Add all of these ingredients (minus the butter, I use a slotted spoon or a "colander" spoon to get the vegetables out) to the stock pot holding your chicken broth.
3-4 TBS butter (not margarine, you don't want pure grease, yuck!)
4 TBS flour
*~*OPTIONAL OPTIONAL OPTIONAL*~* (Did I mention this ingredient was optional??)
You can substitute the butter for about 1/2 a cup of the broth, but this does need to be thick enough to put into the soup. Not stuck to a whisk thick, but almost gravy thick, do ya know what I mean???? I used this instead of the butter, it didn't work out for me, and the broth should have enough fat in it from when you boiled the chicken.
In the same skillet, bring together 3-4 tablespoons of butter, melted, and about 4 tablespoons of flour to make a roux (a thickened butter/fat base). Get all the lumps out of the mixture. If you can't get the lumps out, pour the roux into your broth, and use a hand blender to mix it up. It doesn't need to be thick, just sort of creamy. I used my Food Network ® Immersion Blender that I got for christmas!! Thanks Mom!!! Let this boil for about 5-10 minutes just to get the taste throughout the entire stock. Last, yet not least, add your rice!!! I put a little bit of curry powder into my soup, just to give it a slight bite. And Vóila!! Soup!! Good luck and if you have ANY question, please feel free to give me a ringle or a comment!!
And I did all of this while the cat was meowing at me... now as I WRITE this, she's finally fallen asleep. Just as bad as kids!
Also, a new way to "hard boil" your eggs. I did this for Josh yesterday, and the yolks were actually softer. Take a pot of water with about 1-2 cups of water, place a steamer basket or steaming pot into/onto the pot. Gently place your eggs in/onto the steamer. Cover with a lid and allow to boil on med-low for approximately 20-25 mins. I usually do this about 23 minutes. Than take out your eggs and let cool down in a bowl of ice cold water for 15-20 minutes. Yes, I let mine cool this long, or else you risk losing half the egg in the shell. Now, when you go to take the shell off, don't just crack on the sides and start peeling. You want to make your first initial crack, and ROLL your egg on the counter, that way it cracks everywhere instead of just a few spots. This seems to make peeling a little easier and sometimes (now I didn't say EVERYTIME) makes the egg not stick to the shell.
Happy Cooking!!
TnChickHen!!!
