Chicken Pho

I decided chicken pho sounded really good today. This time with a simple broth seasoned mostly with authentic Vietnamese pho spices.

Arrange the chicken legs in a lg. glass baking pan. Drizzle with EVOO and season with garlic salt and black pepper. Roast at 400° for a half hour, turn and season this side. Continue cooking for a total of 60-90 minutes, basting occasionally. Slice and stir-fried the following vegetables in 2T EVOO:

1 lg. carrot

1 stalk celery

1/2 lg. purple onion

3 lg. cloves of garlic

Start with the carrot and celery.

After a few minutes add the onion and garlic.

Put the vegetables and zest from 1/2 lemon in a small bowl and drizzle with the lemon juice.

Empty the spice packet into a pot and dry toast them, stirring continually, over medium heat just for a short time, until their scent is released. Remove from the heat. Be careful not to toast too long, or the spices will turn bitter.

2 cakes of millet-brown rice ramen

Cook the ramen in a 2 quart pot of boiling water, separating the noodles gently, until they're about half done.

Drain then rinse the noodles well in very cold water. Drain again until needed.

Put the toasted spices in the cloth bag included in the packet. Wash the pot and add about 48oz. of fresh cold water. Boil then shut off the heat. add the spice bag and let the spices 'steep' 10 minutes then remove and discard the spices. 

Add 60oz. chicken bone broth, vegetables, lemon zest and juice, the sliced greens from a small Romaine lettuce and sliced celery greens. Bring this to a simmer, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in 6oz. of the roasted chicken and the noodles. Heat again to a simmer for a few minutes to be sure the chicken and noodles have warmed. Check the broth for flavor. Mine only needed a couple tablespoons of chicken Better Than Bouillon to round out the flavors.

This is such a nice, mild, healthy soup. . .Lin