no, not soup from a stone, but here's the loose recipe for the chicken soup we made last night. it was sort of thrown together, haphazardly, since my thumb nearly was sliced off in the process and I had to call in a backup cook while I held it above my head.
3lbs of chicken
2 bags of Meijer Kluski noodles (more egg noodle than Mrs. Smiths, or whatever brand we usually get)
szechuan spices
salt & pepper
minced garlic
5ish large carrots, shredded
2 cans corn, drained
1 large can diced tomatoes, drained
1 large can collard greens, drained (?)
about a dozen celery stalks, diced
4 cans of chicken broth
water
about 6 chicken boullion cubes (i think)
initially, the recipe was your standard chicken soup with sliced carrots, diced onions and celery, some spices, and chicken and noodles. well... that was before the thumb-slicing.
so, what I started with was four cans of chicken broth, and equal parts water, boiling. then i added the celery and some minced garlic. then, as i started cutting the onion, i realized it was bad. looked fine, smelled funky, and had turned mushy on the inside (at the store, it appeared to have been FROZEN amd then thawed whole, and while I sometimes freeze leftover minced or diced onion, I know it's fresh when I put it away, and add it to the soup as frozen, generally. So, rather than risking it, I decided to pass. Now ideally I wouldve done the chicken next, but it was done thawing in the microwave, so I decided to cook it up really quick in a pan. I cut it into cubes about 1" square, and threw it in the pan on high heat, adding the szechuan spices and some more garlic and pepper. Mmm, smelled great, but it wasnt enough, so I kept cutting. There... almost done... damn these knives are sharp... gotta be careful... look at the time... must hurry... F*CK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... Get the gauze and the bandages, please!
So, from there, it was no longer my soup. Nala finished the chicken (which, by the way, I want to try to make again as part of a meal, it smelled so good), and threw it in the pot. Carrots were next, and he cleaned, and I fed into our food processor for shredding, so they would cook faster. Now, our food processor is a mini model, with a chute for the shredded veggies to come out, and it also requires 2 hands to use (one to hold down the button, and one to push the plunger down). Well, I got creative and used my elbow to push it. What a gimp!
So, we pre-cooked the carrots in the frying pan with the remaining spices and chicken fat, and added that all to the soup. We added some more water (a LOT), some boullion, and the corn. And then the collard greens (which made it very greeny smelling) and the tomatoes.
We precooked the noodles seperately, and then added them when the time neared...
While it wasn't the chicken soup I was looking for, it was edible. For dessert, Kristy had made a cheesecake (yum) and we even drizzled chocolate syrup over the pieces to make it even better. I fear we will be eating chicken soup till we start our diets.
It was a good evening with long conversations (the best kind). I just wish we all had more time, but I guess that's what makes our friendships tighter, since we never run out of things to talk about.
And Kristy, my former (good) TA, got to hear about Susanne (my other, evil TA) and how I totally stuck my foot in my mouth with her...
Good times.