hot salad & other stories: the ‘rona

(Archive from October 14, 2022) After two and and a half years of evading COVID19, it finally got me. Not sure how I got it, but I sure hope it doesn’t last long. I had literally just started a pot of chicken soup before taking a test… so at least I had all the ingredients already! Whether or not chicken soup actually fixes sickness, hot broth and herby vegetables definitely tastes really good. My biggest fear with having COVID is losing my sense of taste or smell, that would be the worst for me. So far, so good.
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CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
1 whole chicken
few tablespoons of butter
olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2–3 sticks of celery, chopped
1–2 carrots, chopped
salt
fresh cracked pepper
few tablespoons parsley and dill
a squeeze of lemon, optional
your favorite cooked noodle

- Break down the chicken: cut the thighs off, then the breasts, and the wings. Save the body!
- In a large stock pot, heat a few tablespoons of butter over medium heat. When hot, place the chicken pieces skin-side down in the butter. Flip when it gets golden brown and crispy. Remove when both sides are browned. (It’s ok if it’s not cooked all the way through.)
- Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to the butter, then add the onion, celery, and carrot. Stir occasionally until they begin to soften and/or get crispy edges. Make sure to scrape all the good browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Add a large pinch of salt, some fresh cracked pepper, some parsley and dill.
- Add the chicken back into the pot, along with the chicken body. Add enough water to cover everything in the pot.
- Bring the contents to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
- Let cook for 1–2 hours, until the chicken is cooked and falling off the bone. Remove the chicken, shred the meat from all pieces, and discard the body and skin bits (they get too soft and wobbly in my opinion. Crispy chicken skin? Delicious. Softened in a broth? Weird.) Add the meat back to the pot.
- Serve the soup with your favorite noodle, additional herbs, and a squeeze of lemon. Taste for salt.

OTHER STORIES
Superior Ice Cream Sandwiches: A classic ice cream sandwich with the strange chocolate cookies hits the spot sometimes. A better way: buy or make chocolate chip cookies and a few kinds of ice cream… it becomes an ice cream sandwich bar of sorts. Phish Food from Ben and Jerrys or Talenti’s mint chocolate chip are my favorites.

Chinese Egg + Tomato: A simple breakfast, cut a 2–3 medium sized tomatoes into wedges. Whisk 2 eggs, and add a splash of soy sauce and a few cracks of black pepper. Scramble the eggs in a hot pan with a few tablespoons of oil, constantly stirring so it doesn’t stick to the pan. Add the tomatoes when it’s just past a soft scramble–the tomatoes will release some liquid. Cook a minute longer, then enjoy! I add nori flakes or sesame seeds.
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Hoping for a speedy recovery!