Thanksgiving Cornish Hen Soup

This Thanksgiving was different for so many of us.  My celebration was confined only to my daughter and I.  She cooked and I added some traditional side dishes.  We decided to roast 2 stuffed Cornish hens on top of some carrots, celery and cut up lemons.  It turned out well.  She gave that to me when I went home, to make a big pot of soup.  Alrighty then!  I'll never say no to soup ingredients!  Spotty photos here.  I didn't even take a picture of the hens after they were roasted, but they were beautiful, golden brown, and everything tasted wonderful!

Before roasting - Stuffed and ready for the oven

First make the bone broth. Take all the meat off the bones and refrigerate that for now. Put the skin, and bones in a 5 quart stock pot. Add 4 quarts of water and any seasonings you might want. I added the carrots from the roasting pan, onions and lemon.  Also bay leaves, celery tops, fresh ground pepper and a splash of white vinegar. The vinegar pulls the collagen out of the bones and into the broth.

Simmer all this together for 3-4 hours on low heat, covered.  Pour it through a colander into another big pot.  Put the solids in the garbage, wash the colander and the first pot.  Line the colander with cheesecloth and position again over the first, clean pot.  Pour the broth through this to strain out some of the fat and any other little bone chips and residue.  Chill overnight, then remove the fat that's risen to the top.

In another pot, sauté 3 cups of chopped celery, onion, carrot, and 4-6 cloves minced garlic in 3-4T butter. Add more seasonings if you'd like. I added fresh ground black pepper, Italian seasoning, 2-3T Better Than Bouillon-chicken. Once the vegetables are scenting your kitchen and crisp-tender, add broth and simmer for half an hour. Just before serving, add 6-8oz. chicken, 6oz. thin egg noodles, that were cooked separately, rinsed in cold water and drained. This went together quickly and turned out so well! . .Lin