recycled rotisserie chicken noodle soup
hiiii!
it’s currently 2am in paris, and i am now officially self-diagnosing myself with a sleep disorder. it’s been pretty bad and i think my body clock has completely given up on me. in detail, i will share what the past few days have looked like:
friday: slept 3 hours from functioning on a previous night of pulling an all-nighter to help my youngest brother with his college apps
saturday: slept at 9am all the way through to 5pm. then fell asleep at 3am only to wake up at 6am the next day
sunday: took a nap at 2pm, woke up at 6pm. fell back asleep at 8pm and now it’s 2am!
god, if you’re listening, help me operate like a normal human being again. just kidding, i put this on myself. especially since i’ll be flying to the uk later this week, then back to paris, then to california for a week, and then back to paris for the remainder of the year. i’m severely fooked.
i try to give myself a FULL DAY to recover this weekend, but then THE aggressive planning side of my brain WAS LIKE, HEY, I’M GOING TO SABOTAGE YOU BY MAKING PLANS FOR SUNDAY ONLY TO HAVE YOU FEEL LIKE A GUILT-RIDDEN DUMPY LUMP FOR NOT GOING TO CHURCH, RUNNING THE FEW ERRANDS YOU’VE BEEN PUTTING OFF, GOING TO A BOOK SIGNING FOR david lebovitz’ NEW BOOK.
none of that happened because jetlag IS REAL AND YOUR BODY WILL CREATE REALISTIC BOUNDARIES FOR YOU WITHOUT YOU EVEN KNOWING. CASE IN POINT, THERE WERE SIRENS and helicopters ALL THROUGHOUT PARIS THIS WEEKEND TO contend with the gilet jaune protests where cars and parks were lit on fire, and storefront windows were shattered. meanwhile, i was peacefully snoring in my bed.
i think this body of mine is getting old. i know this because this body of mine two years ago fell slept anywhere for however long and snapped out of jetlag in one day. that ain’t the case no more.
anyways, one of the causes of this jetlag was because i was tucked away in the catskills a few days ago, and being there reminded me how sweet life could be if i slowed the heck down. more than ever now, i crave days where i can wake up with nothing on my agenda, brew a cup of coffee, cozy up with a book in a cabin surrounded by trees and not people, and of course, make chicken noodle soup at a snail’s pace with a glass of red wine in hand. i’m ready for retirement.
time upstate was so so sweet and remembering my time there will hopefully fuel the chaos that’s to come in the next few weeks.
here is the chicken noodle soup recipe that i reference whenever someone is sick or when i have a half-way eaten roasted chicken on hand.
i’m sure that there’s nothing novel about this recipe. but i wanted to share that even if the carcass of your chicken looks like it was picked apart by vultures, every single scrap down to the skin is still good and valuable in contributing flavors to a rich and savory broth. after simmering for an hour and a half, the chicken will completely fall apart, meaning you’ll have to go fishing for bones. be sure to keep an eye out for the bones, but leave in all of the golden pieces of collagen, meat, and skin.
hope you all had a wonderful weekend and getting in rest!
xo, christine
rotisserie chicken noodle soup
ingredients
one rotisserie chicken that’s been mostly eaten
2 regular sized carrots, peeled and diced
2 regular sized russet potatoes, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic minced
3 sprigs of fresh oregano
2 tablespoon olive oil
8 cups water
1 tablespoon chicken better than bouillon
2 tablespoons fresh cracked black pepper
2 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt + extra to taste
fresh chopped parsley, cilantro, and/or green onions
4-5 servings of pasta, cooked al-dente. i used rigatoni
notes
soup and noodles
bring a large pot up to medium high heat, heat up 2 tablespoons of olive oil
sauté onions, carrots, and celery with 1/2 tablespoon of kosher salt for 5-6 minutes until vegetables have started to soften
add in garlic, oregano, and chicken bouillon and sauté for another 2 minutes
gently place chicken into the center of the pot, pour in 8 cups of water, and bring up to a rolling boil for 10 minutes. cover the pot with its lid, bring the soup down to medium-low heat and simmer for 45 minutes
in a separate medium pot, boil pasta in salted water + 1 tablespoon of oil to al-dente (cooking directions should be on package and oil prevents pasta from sticking later on). strain and set aside
after 45 minutes, remove the chicken from the pot and place on a dish to cool off. separate as much meat off the bones. place meat back into the pot and discard the bones.
the soup should have also reduced down a bit. add black pepper and salt to taste (i used ~1 tablespoon of kosher salt).
if soup need a deeper flavor, continue to simmer for an additional 15-20 minutes
serving
take pasta and set at the base of your serving bowl
ladle over vegetables and chicken pieces, then the broth
finish with fresh parsley/cilantro/green onions and enjoy!
