Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
For Soup:
2 tbsp butter
1/2 a yellow onion, diced
4 stalks celery, sliced
4 large carrots, grated and sliced
1 pound chicken, cooked and diced or shredded
8 cups chicken broth*
1 can cream of chicken soup*
thyme and parsley (fresh or dried)
salt and pepper
1/2 package egg noodles* (whole grain or regular)
For Grilled Cheese:
8 slices bread*
4 tbsp butter
4 slices American cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese
* I tagged this post as gluten-free but I considered adding a new category called gluten-free(ish). It is gluten-free provided that you use gluten-free versions of the starred(*) items.
Melt 2 tbsp butter in a large pot over medium heat.
Put sliced carrots in a Ziploc steam bag and steam for about 4 minutes. This will help move you along in the cooking process because carrots can take a long time to get soft.
Chop your celery. I like mine in the little crescent shapes. Also it's faster.
Dice half your onion.
Add onions and celery into hot, melted butter and let cook until they are soft, about 5 minutes.
Chop up your chicken, or in our case, leftover turkey from a Christmas get-together! This is probably more than a pound, but you know A-Dub likes his dishes to have a lot of meat. You can add as much or as little as you like. Those grocery store rotisserie chickens would be great in this.
Next add the steamed carrots, chicken and the 8 cups of chicken broth to the pot (or in our case, 8 cups of water and 16 tsp of this broth base which I was trying out). I realize this isn't necessarily the best reason . . . but this was really good and I prefer it to real chicken broth because it is saltier. I know, the sodium. Don't care. It was so yummy. It did make the soup have a slightly green tinge though.
Next add the can of cream of chicken soup. You could leave this out for the calorie's sake, but I like it because it makes the soup a little creamy. Also add the half a package of whole grain egg noodles (or however much depending on how noodley you want your soup). I have given up on most whole grain pasta because it never seems to cook and ends up having more "bite" than I like in my pasta. But I do like the whole grain egg noodles--they taste just like regular ones.
Add your fresh or dried parsley and thyme (I happened to have fresh on hand but generally never do and dried is just as good) and salt and pepper to taste. Stir it up and put the lid on the pot, bring the soup to a boil and let cook until the noodles have softened, about 10 minutes.
While the soup is cooking, heat up your griddle pan or skillet to medium, if you have one. I love my griddle pan because it does 4 sandwiches at once! But since A-Dub doesn't like grilled cheese (I know, can you believe it?) I just made 3.
So you're probably wondering why I am bothering to post a recipe for a grilled cheese sandwich. Well, that is because there are grilled cheese sandwiches and then there are Taylor's grilled cheese sandwiches. Sorry to toot my own horn, but if you can't toot your own horn, whose can you toot? (Credit: Dana Kantalis). Here is how to make the perfect grilled cheese sandwich.
Obviously the most important part is the cheese. You must use both Deluxe American slices (NOT the individually wrapped American slices) and cheddar or another melty cheese. I always use at least 1 slice deluxe American and about 1/4 cup shredded cheddar or Mexican blend. But I will also throw in pretty much any cheese we have on hand. Shredded Monterrey Jack, mozzarella, sliced provolone or sliced muenster are also very good.
Lay out your bread slices and butter them. Try not to tear your bread apart like I did here. Yeesh. I usually use margarine but I'd already used that pat of butter earlier so I used real butter. I think the marg spreads a little easier.
Place first piece of bread, butter side down, on hot griddle. You could spray your pan with Pam, but if you put enough butter on your bread you don't really need it.
Then add about 1/4 of a cup of your shredded cheese. You want to add your shredded cheese first, so it can get melty so it will stay in place when you flip your sandwich. Also, don't measure your cheese, just add a small (or large, what the heck) handful. You need to be fast!
Then add your slice of American (and then provolone in our case).
Top with other piece of bread, buttered side out.
Quickly assemble your other sandwiches.
Flip your sandwiches after they have spent 2-3 minutes on one side. Don't let them burn! There's nothing worse than a burned grilled cheese sandwich. No one wants to eat it (don't even think your kids will!) and you definitely don't want to have to start over. I almost burned these while taking pictures!
Once your second side has cooked as well, transfer to the plate and do not cut it immediately! If you do, all the cheese will ooze out of your sandwich on to the plate. Let the sandwich sit for a minimum of 2 minutes undisturbed (3 is better but if you're impatient, 2 will do. This will let the cheese set and when you do cut it into slices the cheese will stay put.
Yum. So it's a little overly specific for instructions on how to make a grilled cheese but it is the perfect grilled cheese. I should know, I have spent years perfecting it!
When your sandwiches are done, your soup should be too. Since this soup has been boiling, it may help to throw an ice cube or two in your soup bowl to help it cool down, especially if you're giving it to kids who are too impatient to blow on their spoon.
Enjoy!
