Creamy Chicken Soup

I don’t actually like chicken noodle soup. Something about the egg noodles, they take over the whole thing. It ends up spiraling out of control, adding more and more broth as the carefully measured noodles grow and expand. So I made a chicken soup without noodles, and it was AMAZING.

As a kid I was a big fan of cream of chicken soup from the can. With its three pieces of spongy chicken and single speck of carrot. This is the grown up version of that, it even has a little booze in it it’s so grown up. Eat it with buttered crusty bread, or a few oyster crackers. Here is the original recipe, my (pretty close) version below.

CREAMY CHICKEN SOUP

3 tbsp. unsalted butter

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 cup yellow onion, chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

1 cup carrots, chopped

1 cup red potato, cubed small

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon flour

5 cups chicken broth

3 sprigs parsley

3 sprigs fresh thyme

~2 cups cooked, shredded chicken (1 large breast)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon dry sherry

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1. Add olive oil to a medium soup pot. Cook chicken breast on medium heat until done.

2. While the chicken cooks, chop all vegetables. Remove cooked chicken to a plate, shred when cool.

3. Add the butter to the pot and add all vegetables & garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 12 minutes.

4. Add the flour and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 2 minutes more.

5. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil while whisking constantly. Tie the parsley sprigs and thyme together with a piece of kitchen twine and add to the soup. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

6. Remove and discard the herb bundle. Stir in the chicken and whisk in sherry, cream & milk. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil and serve.