Good Stuff!

...Chicken (Soup) Dinner

I posted this photo on my Facebook page and had some lady friends respond with, "recipe please". Well, truth be told I really didn't have one. That's me. I just have a general idea of what I want for dinner and go for it. However, this particular evening, The Horn Player really needed some comfort food since his harrowing morning left him hungry and in need of TLC. So what I always think of first is chicken something. This is what I decided would be a healthy and yummy evening dinner. And this is what I made...exactly.

Chicken Soup

4 bone-in chicken thighs (with skin - it adds flavor)
Chicken stock (boxed or homemade)
1/2 medium sweet onion diced finely
2 stalks celery with leaves diced finely
4-5 carrots sliced very thinly
1 cup (or a bit more) of dry Mostaccioli pasta
Fresh Parsley (about a tablespoon chopped finely)
1 lemon
Salt (to taste)
Black Pepper (to taste)
Parsley sprigs for garnish

Poach the chicken in a stock pot with enough stock to cover the chicken. Add water if necessary. Cover and cook the chicken until well done. No need to cook it until it's off the bone, though; just cooked well. Remove the chicken to a plate to cool, and add the onion, celery and carrots to the stock. Cook until the carrots are tender and add the pasta. De-bone the chicken and add to the pot. At the last, when the pasta is cooked, add the fresh parsley (♥ mine came from my herb garden ♥) and the juice of the whole lemon. Taste the stock to adjust the salt and black pepper if needed. Stir well and allow it to cook for just a couple of minutes more. It's time to enjoy. Ladle into bowls and garnish with a sprig of parsley. Spritz on more lemon if you love citrus as much as I do, and sprinkle over a tiny bit of crunchy salt for flavor. 

Note: I make this with a copious amount of broth. It's so delicious when it's homemade. So at the beginning of the cooking process, make sure you cover the chicken well to allow for a nice brothy bowl of chicken comfort. Enjoy this on one of those cold Winter evenings coming up in a week or so.