stomach flu vs chicken soup... the victory round

Well... this last week I spent in bed. For some reason Winnipeg and surrounding areas seem to be plagued by this wretched stomach flu. Unlucky me I contracted it... likely at work. When you work with computers that are shared and in a building, once a disease is brought in, it spreads like wild fire. Between the brain numbing headaches, the feeling of your stomach dying from the inside out and the constant nausea with the mention of food, I lost 5 lbs this week. 

I don't know about you, but when I'm sick, all I want to do is sleep and drink gingerale. Why? I think it's because when I was a kid, this was instilled in me this was the only way I would get better. Sleep is what your body needs to attack the virus and destroy it's puny existence and gingerale is what your stomach needs to battle nausea. Only Canada dry for this kid, that schwepps (sp?) crap is yucky. That's right, yucky. It's got a stale flavor to it that I can't quite put my finger on. 

My third weapon in fighting flu's is homemade chicken soup! Nothing beats a good chicken soup! When I was a kid it was Lipton's Alligator soup. Remember that stuff? Chewy, salty goodness in a bowl with noodles shaped like deadly animals. Now YOU'RE the predator! But now that I'm older I realize that soup had enough sodium to send me into hypertension. (which would be crazy as the last time I had my blood pressure done I was 90/60) Either way, I thought I would share my flu fighting homemade soup with everyone as this flu seems to be taking everyone out!

 

Alright, so above are your white cell activator superhero's of ingredients. (god I should have been a bio teacher...) And no those are not pickles, those are the fruits of a chicken whose carcass became chicken broth. I had them patiently waiting frozen in my freezer just waiting for this opportunity! I will post that recipe one day, it's a staple in my house.

Chicken Soup a la Old School

2 L chicken stock

4 cups water

4 sachets chicken base

6 stalks celery (diced) get some with leaves, we want a small handful

5 carrots (diced)

1 small white onion (diced)

2 garlic cloves (diced) it will put hair on your chest as my Papa would say

1 clam shell of crimini mushrooms (sliced) I find they hold their texture better than white mushrooms, up to you!

1 Tbsp poultry seasoning

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

a good swig of white wine vinegar

 First off start by heating your chicken stock (medium high heat - 7 on my stove), water and chicken base while you chop the veggies. As you can see, my stock was still kind of frozen when I started. But it will soon look all golden and yummy like this...

 

So by now you should have your carrots, onion and celery chopped up. I have a personal carrot monster that creeps into my kitchen when ever she hears me chopping carrots. She patiently waits for me to "drop" a carrot piece for her and then devours it and then waits again...

 

 Look at those eyes... who could resist this carrot monster? Please feed me carrots... they're good for my eyes! I can't believe she's 13 some days...

 Add this to the pot and next up we have... celery leaves. Grab a small handful of good leaves. Now you may be wondering what the hell I am doing putting celery leaves in my soup but trust me, it adds so much flavor that celery stalks just can't do on its own. So, pile em up, roll them like a cigar and slice. If you want it smaller after that, chop em up but I like them julienned.

 

So we still have more chopping left... mushrooms and garlic. Slice the mushrooms and chop the garlic. It's soup... don't try to be fancy. Who are you kidding!?

 

So last but not least poultry seasoning, salt, pepper and a swig of vinegar. Now I know you're asking why vinegar? Well... it brightens the flavor of the veggies. Seriously, I'm not lying! It does make a difference. I wont be hurt if you leave it out though... well, maybe only a little. 

 

So once this comes to the boil, turn the heat down to simmer and cover. Let this simmer for a few hours. I find that best! Or better yet, simmer for an hour and then cool and leave over night and re-heat the next day. Sooo yummy when the flavours meld together overnight!

So now something I haven't talked about yet in this blog... how important it is to taste your culinary concoctions. Every good cook has a tasting spoon... mine is my old baby spoon. *sigh* I know, it's got sentimental value, what can I say. I think everyone should have a special tasting spoon... go get yours now and test it out by making some chicken soup a la old school!

 much love and stay virus free!