Chicken Soup - Crazy Cooking Challenge

So, along with Daring Bakers, I signed up for the Crazy Cooking Challenge.  Each month a featured food item is named.  Challengers find that item on another blog, make it and blog about it and highlight the blog they found the item on.  The food item this month is Chicken Soup.  Perfect for January and out 40 below and colder temperatures.  I also knew the blog I wanted to high light: Picture Perfect Meals pictureperfectmeals.com/ .
This blog is lovely.  The pictures are spectacular, the recipes are always delicious and the stories Cheryl writes are amazing, she has a way of making you feel like you are right in the moment with her. I read a post about her saving a dog from a crevice by a waterfall and I was hooked. If you are only going to read one blog, read mine, but if you are going to read two watch Picture Perfect Meals.  I made her pumpkin donuts for work on Halloween this year, and then about 6 batches of the cheese crackers, I think I ate two batches by myself and served the crackers with our Christmas Dinner Salad course.   I appreciate the suggestions for food photography from Adam and someday I'll take a good picture because of his help.
So, I used her recipe for Chicken Soup.  We did the whole thing, made our own stock one day, then roasted a chicken and made the soup on the next. Dave decided he wasn't too excited about my cooking and baking challenges as it just makes a lot more dishes for him to wash.  I now have 7 quarts of homemade chicken stock in my freezer and we had a lovely, warm dinner of chicken soup and cheddar cheese toast.

Oven-Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup

From Picture Perfect Meals: http://picture-perfectmeals.blogspot.com

serves 6

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup chopped leeks (about 2), tender, light green and white parts only
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
• 1 small potato, peeled and small-diced
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 
• 8 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 3 cups cooked chicken, shredded*
• 2 cups wide egg noodles
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1. In a large pot, heat the butter and olive oil.  Add the leeks, celery, carrots, mushrooms, potato, garlic and bay leaves.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook until the vegetables soften, about 7 minutes.  Add the stock and poultry seasoning and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add the chicken and noodles and simmer until noodles are cooked, 10 minutes more.  
2. Season to taste;  add parsley before serving.    

January 7, 2012       Daylight 4 hours, 22 minutes,  17 seconds       Current Temp. -24 º F