Saturday, March 06, 2010

Chicken soup for the soul.

None of that printed-platitudes nonsense... this is stuff that'll *really* nourish you. (Well, me.)

Cast of characters:
Chicken Soup Ingredients
(Extras to be introduced later.)

Rinse, peel, toss together:
In The Pot
(mushrooms will come later), add water to cover, and wait:
Future Chicken Soup

I *think* the heavenly scent has already started, but my sinuses aren't cooperating.

Speaking of which, update on the humidity situation:

Last night I got a small towel (ie not a bath sheet) sopping wet, and hung it from my extra shower curtain rod over the centre of the tub that I use for drip-drying certain items. Then I boiled a pot of pasta. After dinner, I rinsed the pasta pot, filled it with clean water, and set it to a low boil until it went down by an inch. (After turning it off, I moved the steaming pot to my bedroom, to get some steam there.)

I can't remember if it was 24% or 28% humidity that I got the levels up to... however, this morning it's back down to 20% (pre-shower). The sopping wet towel is bone dry. I'm off to have my shower now, and will re-wet the towel then (in addition to rain-washing the two houseplants... it will be *quite* cramped in there!)

I had a brief period of clear-breathing last night, about an hour after taking a decongestant. Since then, it's been pretty much all mouth breathing. *sigh* I think spring allergy season is once again upon us. (And it's looking like my NC-allergy-overload-induced resistance is wearing off.) I guess I need to close that last window all the way. :(

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That soup looks tasty, and like something I might actually eat. Do you have a recipe you can post to help out a poor soul like me should I wish to attempt it?

[I was just looking at chicken noodle soup recipes on Allrecipes.com before I clicked over and saw this post.]

noricum said...

I don't have a real recipe, I just toss a bunch of stuff in the crock pot that I think will make a tasty soup, cover it with water, and then simmer it until close to dinner time. At that point I cut up / shred the cooked chicken, discard the bones, skin, and dead onions/garlic/ginger, skim off the fat, then put the chicken back in along with some other things. Last time I added noodles, this time I think I'll add the mushrooms and some wild rice. I was considering adding some chickpeas or white beans, but, with my cold, my energy levels are rather low... so mushrooms and wild rice it will be.

noricum said...

PS: Soup is pretty hard to screw up, so give it a try. Put in soupy-type things you know you like, and leave out things you know you don't like. Experiment with things that you think might work.

I put the ginger in last time too... it's a bit weird, but not bad. (Oh, and the ginger I peeled, and cut into "coins" to increase surface area. The garlic I peeled and "smashed".)

Anonymous said...

How long do you leave it in the crock pot for? And on what setting? (high, low?) I have a crock pot, but haven't used it enough to have a good feel for how long something should be left to cook.

Sorry you are feeling icky. :(

noricum said...

This batch I cooked on high for around six hours (that was more than enough time) before taking the chicken out and shredding it. Everything got cooked some more in a regular pot for another 40 minutes to cook the wild rice, since the crock pot looked like I would have to wait longer than I wanted to get the rice done.

The previous time I did soup this way I put it on to cook before I left for school (I had prepared the crock pot the night before, and put the container in the fridge overnight)... I can't remember what temperature I used that time.

I think crock pots aren't too picky... because of the lower heat, there's a rather wide range between "shortest cooking time" and "so long that things get ruined".