by Deborah Stewart

Created on: April 07, 2011   Last Updated: February 02, 2012

Recipe for: "The Most Delicious Magic Chicken Soup"

Ingredients:

* four large boneless chicken breasts
* one packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix
* 6 large eggs
* 1 twin-pack of Mrs. Grass Noodle Soup mixed with real chicken broth and the "golden nugget"
* Wyler's chicken instant bouillon cubes
* large bag of your favorite medium width noodles
* coarsely-chopped onion, carrots and celery, if desired

* fresh garlic - if desired
* freshly-ground pepper to taste
* freshly-ground sea salt to taste
* spaetzle (recipe below)
* cheesecloth

Begin by rinsing boneless chicken breasts and placing them into a good soup pot to boil. Fill pot 2/3 full with cold water. On medium heat, boil chicken breasts until done; skimming scum as it forms in the beginning. After you have skimmed scum, put four or five bouillon cubes into water to help flavor the chicken and the broth, adding water as necessary to keep level of broth to within two inches of top of pot. It helps to split the breasts lengthwise; they will get done more quickly in thinner pieces.

When chicken is done, remove from pot to cool. Strain broth through cheesecloth into a second soup pot. Wash first pot; dry. Then divide the broth between the two pots. Add enough water to reach within two inches of the top of the pots: these will be your two pots of "The Most Delicious Magic Chicken Soup".

Into each pot of broth, add half the bag of noodles, one of the boxes of Mrs. Grass soup mix, onion, carrots and celery, if desired, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer slowly for one hour, or until vegetables are tender. When chicken cools, tear or cut into bite-sized pieces; larger than you would find in a can of soup.

Now, you will make the spaetzle:

Fill a large saucepan with water and bring to a boil with salt. This is how you will boil your spaetzle.

In a large bowl, place a mound of flour (approximately four to five cups) and packet of Ranch Dressing mix. Mix well. Make a well in the center of the mound. Add the whole eggs; do not separate yolks from whites unless you choose to do so for personal reasons. Using a fork, break the eggs and begin to mix them with the flour mixture, staying in the well as long as you can. When it becomes too difficult to stir, add a little ice water at a time until you can easily stir the dough. Dough should not be too thin.

Using a pair of kitchen shears and a large metal spoon, snip off tiny pieces of dough into boiling water until pan is full. Boil for five minutes. Remove from pan; drain and rinse. Repeat with any remaining dough. When finished, divide spaetzle evenly into the two pots. Simmer for half an hour.

When serving this magic soup; if you like fresh garlic, now is the time to add it to each individual bowl. Or, if everyone likes fresh garlic, you can add one clove to each soup pot when it is finished. It is called "Magic Soup" because it is so delicious that it will seem to disappear!

You can half the recipe if you wish to make only one pot; but truly-one pot will not be enough. You and your family and guests will definitely want seconds (or thirds for the men). Or, you can send a pot of this wonderful soup to someone who deserves it. You can even freeze it if you put it into airtight plastic containers. (But it probably won't last long enough to freeze.) This wonderful soup is the consistency of a stew and makes a healthy, delicious meal which could only be improved by adding a loaf of fresh, hot, homemade bread. (Do you have a bread machine?)

Prepare to fall in love.

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