The Best Chicken Noodle Soup Ever from Christine Rimmer

Today, I'd like to welcome my good friend Christine Rimmer, who is one of my favorite Special Edition authors - and one of my favorite people! Christine's latest book is THE PRINCE'S SECRET BABY. The title makes me all quivery because I adore a royalty story, and I adore a secret baby story. This book has both, told in the heart-tugging, emotional way that only Christine Rimmer can tell it.

Christine is going to share her recipe for the Best Chicken Noodle Soup Ever, but first...

Three Random Questions for Christine Rimmer

What is one thing you love about yourself?
My vivid imagination. Luckily, I became a writer. I could have gotten into all kinds of trouble otherwise.

Besides the grocery store, where do you shop most often?
I love the farmer's markets we have all over my new hometown of Portland, Oregon. You never know what you might find there. The best goat cheese you ever tasted, a terrific homemade hummus. The possibilities are endless. I also like our local natural foods chain, New Seasons Market. New Seasons has a great deli. And they make an effort to provide quality local organic meats and produce. And some really good, reasonably price wines, as well.

In THE PRINCE'S SECRET BABY, Prince Rule Bravo-Calabretti visits Dallas to meet the mother of his toddler son. How did Sydney become his baby’s mother if she’s never met Rule before?
I love this question. But I'm not going to answer it. Because I think it's better for readers to discover the answer in the book. To tell would definitely be spoilerish. But I promise, there is a valid reason that she has his baby without knowing that he is her child's father--and Rule's decision to hide the truth eventually gets him into some seriously hot water with Sydney.

Recipe: Best Chicken Noodle Soup Ever

I know, I know. We all think of chicken soup as a winter thing. But I like it in April, too. I like it year-round. Especially this recipe. It essentially takes two days—because you have to make the broth first and then cool it to skim off the fat. But it really is a simple process. And it is soooo good. Enjoy!
--Christine Rimmer , www.ChristineRimmer.com

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
4 medium carrots sliced into quarter-inch rounds
3 celery stalks, CUT into quarter-inch slices
1 (5 ½ to 7-pound) chicken
2 quarts chicken broth
Up to 1 quart cold water
1 bay leaf
4 sprigs fresh thyme or ½ tsp dried thyme
5 sprigs fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups egg noodles
Chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Cut the chicken into 8 pieces. (Yes, you can buy an already cut-up chicken. Just be sure it still has bones and skin and don’t cut off any extra fat. The fat adds flavor and then you skim it away later.) And of course, always be careful to wash hands, cutting tools and surfaces thoroughly after handling poultry.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a stockpot. Add onions, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring often, until soft, approximately 10 minutes.

Add the chicken pieces to the sautéed veggies and pour in the broth. Add enough cold water to cover veggies and chicken by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat and skim off the foam that rises to the surface. Add the parsley, thyme and bay leaf (You will remove these later, so if you tie them together or bag them in culinary cheesecloth, removal is easier). Reduce heat to low and simmer until the chicken is very tender, about 2 hours. (I put the lid on for this. My mother always simmered the soup uncovered. Your choice).

Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove and discard parsley, bay leaf and thyme. Degrease the soup. (If you don’t mind skimming it hot, that’s fine—or if you have one of those fat-separating cups, even better. I like to chill the broth and the chicken overnight and then put the broth in the freezer for a few hours the next morning. The fat is thick and floating by then and easy to spoon off.)

Discard the chicken skin and bones and cut the meat into bite-sized pieces. Add the noodles and cook according to instructions on the noodle package (3-10 minutes). Stir the chicken back into the soup, add salt and pepper to taste, serve hot.

The soup will be good refrigerated for four days or so. You can freeze it for up to three months. Makes 12-15 servings

Guest Author Christine Merrill

I'd like to welcome author Christine Merrill to the blog today! Christine is the author of the fabulous LADY FOLBROKE'S DELICIOUS DECEPTION, which is the first book of the Ladies in Disgrace series from Harlequin Historical. Don't you just love that title? And "Ladies in Disgrace" is such a fun, intriguing name for the series.

Christine has a recipe to share with us, but first...

Three Random Questions for Christine Merrill

With two teenage sons and a husband at home, is it hard for you to find recipes that everyone will like? Or are the men in your house more of the "eat whatever's in front of them" variety?

The town boys have grown and flown the coop. As of this year, I we are officially empty nesters, which is weird. They are in college forty five minutes away, so we see them often.

But while they were here, they would eat almost anything put in front of them. The younger son had a difficult childhood, where he would only eat white things. And he still loves potatoes, rice, and cheese. But I taught him to cook as soon as he was old enough to see over the counter, and we watched a lot of Food Network and Cooking Channel. Alton Brown is great for boys, since he gets into the science of cooking.

And when puberty hit, Giada De Laurentiis and her low cut tops made both sons into foodies.

Generally, all three men of the family have been taught that the first one to complain is going to get stuck cooking. When I go wrong, like the time I made a Christmas goose that looked (and probably tasted) like a burned pterodactyl, everyone suffers in silence. Because, although they have kitchen skills, they are lazy.



St. Patrick's Day is coming up. Any Irish in you? Does your family celebrate St. Patrick's Day by doing anything special?

Not a drop. My relatives are a mix of Polish and German and maiden name is long and unpronounceable. But St Patrick’s Day is my mother’s birthday, and we used to spend it listening to her complain that there was nothing in the restaurants to eat but corned beef and cabbage.

I didn’t discover the corned beef brisket until after I was married. It’s delicious. And since you don’t have to do anything but add vegetables and boil it, it’s my kind of recipe. I make one every year for St Patrick’s Day, while listening to the Drop Kick Murphys.

Your latest book, LADY FOLBROKE'S DELICIOUS DECEPTION, is book 1 of the "Ladies in Disgrace" series of Regency romances. I can't tell you how much I love that series name. Ladies in Disgrace. It makes me feel all quivery with glee. How did you come up with the idea, and in what way is each of your three heroines disgraced?

I have to thank my editor for the trilogy name. She came up with it, and the book titles, since I didn’t realize I was writing a trilogy until after I had finished.

I am not much for long term planning. But things seem to work out in the end. I went from story to story, and they all connected.

In the first book, LADY FOLBROKE'S DELICIOUS DECEPTION, Emily’s husband. Adrian, has gone blind and doesn’t want anyone to know. So he’s abandoned her and is drinking himself to death in London. She tracks him down and has a torrid affair with him, even though he doesn’t recognize her.

The second book is LADY DRUSILLA’S ROAD TO RUIN. Dru is taking the mail coach to Scotland to stop her sister’s elopement. She’s traveling without a chaperone, and ends up hiring John, a character from the first book, who is heartbroken that Emily went back to her husband. They spend a lot of time alone, and of course, one thing leads to another...

The third book is LADY PRISCILLA’S SHAMEFUL SECRET, and is about Dru’s sister, who has ruined herself by eloping with a dancing master. Robert falls for Priss and courts her despite her reputation and the fact that she wants nothing to do with men, ever again.

Recipe: Christine Merrill's Posole

Hi, everybody! And, thanks for having me, Susan.

My first response, on hearing that I could guest on a food blog was to laugh, since people rarely come to my house for the cooking. I tend to prefer my recipes filling, spicy and with minimal preparation and will double and triple the recipe to avoid cooking again the next day. My crock pot is my best friend. But I will throw her over in a heartbeat if anyone suggests we eat out.

But for you, I will cook. And it will not be a St Patrick’s Day corned beef. “Throw a brisket in a pot with water and vegetables” is kind of short for a blog entry.

Instead, let me tell you about Posole.

I am from Wisconsin, and had lived 50 years in ignorance of this wonderfully easy stew. Probably because there is no cheese in it. My ancestors were German and Polish, and judging by the family recipes, they came from a region that invented cream of mushroom soup. My mother viewed all ethnic food with suspicion. If a food had to be seasoned, she encouraged me to use paprika because it ‘had no flavor’.

But last year I was looking for some sort of food appropriate to celebrate Halloween that wasn’t chocolate. Google lead me to Day of the Dead which led me to Mexican food, and a delicious stew that seems to have even more versions than its name has variant spellings (pozolé, pozolli, posole). This is my recipe, if you can call a loose collection of inaccurately measured ingredients a recipe.

All ingredients can be adjusted, for personal taste and availability. But you must have meat, hominy and green chilies.

Two pounds of meat.

Chicken or Pork. For the picture, I used pork, since recipes involving chicken all seemed to have the word “shred.” This was an extra step I was unwilling to take, even with a camera present. I got pork stew meat, already cut up.

One or two onions, chopped.
Garlic: approximately 4 cloves.
Salt, pepper and about 2 tsp of oregano and ½ tsp of cayenne pepper.

Put a little oil in the bottom of a Dutch oven or large kettle, and throw everything in to sauté. When the meat has browned, add:
Chicken broth
Diced canned green chilies.
One large can of hominy (aka white corn).

My proportion on this is usually one small can of chilies for every box of chicken broth, but an extra can of chilies wouldn’t hurt.

Add a bay leaf and ¼ cup of chopped cilantro.

People who hate cilantro are now complaining that I am trying to poison their food. They can add come coriander instead. Or maybe some cumin. Or all of the above. You can put some tomatoes in there, I suppose, if you like tomatoes (I don’t). Or use canned enchilada sauce to replace the chilies. Unlike my mother, I like spices, and am wide open to experimentation in the kitchen.

Leave it simmer, until you are tired of simmering it. An hour or so. Or dump it all in a crock pot and leave it all day. Either way will work.

Serve it in a bowl, garnished with chopped things to throw into it:
Radishes
Lettuce or cabbage
Cilantro
Onion
Lime wedges
Avocado
Jalapeño

And starchy things to sop up the juice:
Tortillas
Rice
Tostada shells
Fried tortilla strips

Choose any or all of the above. At the end of the night throw the left over garnishes into the pot and stir it all together. It will taste just as good (or better) tomorrow.

Quick & Easy Chicken Cheesy Soup

You'll find a printable version of this and many other free recipes online at www.susanmallery.com/recipes.php.

Last week on Facebook and Twitter, I asked my fans to tell me one thing they enjoy about winter. (I needed a pick-me-up. I don’t enjoy being cold, and Seattle at this time of year is cold and wet and gloomy.) Several people said “snow.”

That did nothing for me.

Someone else said curling up with a good book next to a roaring fire. Now we were getting somewhere. As you might imagine, I do love a good book. But still, I’d rather read that good book in the summer, when the days are long and the skies are blue.

Finally, one of my Twitter followers said that what she enjoys about winter is a bowl of thick soup. I perked up. Most of the year, I’m not into soup. I could take it or leave it. But on a cold winter day, a nice, thick soup warms me up from the inside out.

Unfortunately, by this time, it was already getting close to dinner. I wasn’t willing to put off the soup for another day. I needed to find something good about winter now, darn it! So I came up with a recipe for a hearty, delicious soup that took just half an hour from start to finish.

How is that possible? Because the soup is only sort of homemade. There are so many cans of food in it that I thought about naming it Can-Can Chicken Soup.

I settled on the name Quick & Easy Chicken Cheesy Soup because rhyming is fun.

Recipe: Quick and Easy Chicken Cheesy Soup

1 whole rotisserie chicken
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can of corn or Mexicorn
1 can diced green chilies
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can chicken broth
1 T cumin
1 T chili powder
2 C milk

Tear the meat off the chicken bones, chop, and put into a heavy-bottomed soup pot with the accumulated juices from the chicken. Stir in all remaining ingredients. (Don’t drain any of the cans except for the black beans. Just open them up and add them to the pan, juices and all.) Heat over medium-low heat, stirring frequently.

This recipe can be made in the slow cooker. Just toss all the ingredients in a slow cooker and heat on low until warm all the way through.