Blueberry Lemon Pancakes and Chicken Noodle Soup made from scratch

Well James is definitely sick, my poor love!! And then what does he do? He gets his flu shot, while sick!! His immune system is already down so I'm expecting to have a very sick husband for the next week. 

Since all I do now is cook, eat, and get fatter every day I decided to make Pancakes this morning. I have blueberries, a lemon, and buttermilk....yeah that sounds great!

Here are the ingredients: 

Blueberry Lemon Pancakes

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

21/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup melted butter, plus some for frying

1 cup blueberries, fresh

Zest from 1 lemon

First I put 2 cups of flour into a sifter.

1/4 cup of sugar

21/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Then sifted it

In another bowl I put in 2 eggs

Whisked them slightly

Added 2 cups buttermilk

The zest of 1 lemon

Then poured in 1/4 cup melted butter

Whisked that together then poured in the dry ingredients

Then stirred with a spatula very little till still lumpy, not too much. I didn't get a pic but I added a teaspoon of vanilla and stirred that in too.

I took a 1/3 cup measuring scoop and put a flat skillet on medium heat. Took a small amount of butter and greased the pan. Then put the 1/3 cup of batter onto the skillet.

Then sprinkled a few blueberries into the pancake.

Then flipped when the bubbles stopped popping and browned on one side.

To plate I stacked the pancakes up, sliced a strawberry and fanned it out, put a pat of butter, a few blueberries, poured heated maple syrup over it, then used a sifter to powder sugar over the top.

To freeze I put the rest of the pancakes on a sheet pan to come to room temp, put in freezer to flash freeze then I will put in a freezer bag to pull out at another time. To heat up I will take them out, cover with foil and heat in my convection oven till hot. Yum!

For the Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup with Noodles and Broth made from scratch. Here are the ingredients: 

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Half an onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 medium carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices

3 celery ribs, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices with the leaves

4 fresh thyme sprigs

1 bay leaf

2 quarts chicken stock, recipe follows

Homemade noodles

1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken from broth

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Chicken Stock: 1 whole free-range chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds), cut up rinsed, giblets discarded

2 carrots, cut in large chunks

3 celery stalks, cut in large chunks

2 large white onions, quartered

1 turnip, halved

1/4 bunch fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

First I made the stock.

I put 1 whole chopped chicken in a large stock pot with neck bone

Then added 1 onion cut in half

1 turnip, halved

2 carrots chopped in half

2 celery stalks cut in half

1 Lemon cut in half

The stalks of a bunch of parsley

1/4 bunch fresh thyme

3 bay leaves

1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

Brought to a simmer, turned to low, and covered partially for an hour and a half.

For the homemade noodles I first made the dough. Put 2 cups of flour in a bowl

A pinch of salt

A teaspoon of olive oil 

Made a well and cracked in 4 eggs

And slowly started to whisk with a fork incorporating the flour from the sides

When it is mostly together I dumped it onto the floured counter

Kneeded adding more flour till it wasn't sticky. Made a ball

Then covered it with a towel till I was ready to roll it out and cut it

For the soup I cut up 3 carrots, half an onion, 3 center celery stalks with leaves, and 3 cloves of garlic

I pulled out the chicken and let it cool on the chopping board

Shredded the meat and discarded the bones and skin.

I put a tbs of olive oil in a Dutch oven and heated it to medium heat.

Put in the veggies, 1 bay leaf, and a couple thyme sprigs.

Stirred till softened

Rolled out the dough to cut the noodles

I cut it in thin strips with a pizza cutter

Then floured it to keep from sticking 

Into the Dutch oven with the sautéed veggies I put a strainer in and strained out the broth

Discarded the stuff in the strainer, brought to a boil then added the noodles 

Let them cook for 3 mins then added the shredded chicken and seasoned with a tbs of salt and lots of black pepper

Let cook and meld for 5 mins

Poured into bowls and topped with chopped parsley.

Sooooo delicious!