I'm not French. Not even a little bit. No no no, no pala francai...pretty sure that isn't French, but it sounds like what I am trying to convey, which is that I neither speak French, or write in French. But cook??? Ha, not good, but it seems I have been on a French style cooking crusade as of late. Which makes a lot of sense, considering most modern & classic techniques come from, well, France.

It is currently 50 degrees F in Paris right now, which means 99% of that population is probably covered head to toe in warm outdoor wear. When it's 50 where I live, I'm in shorts and sandals. Maybe even put on a little sun tan lotion, don't wanna burn.

But in the midst of a real cold snap here in MN (-8 with a high of a whopping zero), we like to do one of 2 things.

1: Make homemade chili
2: Make homemade soup

I went with option 2 this go around, and speaking of French, our word of the day is:

Mirepoix

The Holy Trinity in French cooking. It consists of carrots, celery, and onion. It is what is traditionally used to make great stock or broth. I opted for a stock this time. The main difference I have come to learn is that stock is flavored with meat only. Broth on the other hand, is flavored with the bones. This was my first attempt ever at making a rich and flavorful chicken stock and I started off the way any good French chef would, with mirepoix.

Bring it up to a boil and then simmer. Simmmmmmmmmmmerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr......

I added 2 chicken breasts around the time the water started boiling.

After simmering for an hour or more, I strained away the mirepoix from the liquid and pulled out the chicken.

This was going to be a hearty chicken noodle soup, so I sliced up some mushroom, some more carrots and onions, and shredded my chicken.

I dumped in my broth and brought all of that up to a simmer. Added my noodles and after about 8 minutes, they were just to my non-French liking, a little over al dente.

Enjoy your meal!!!...errr, Bon Appetit!

Full disclosure, I was never fully satisfied with how much flavor the broth really had. It was lacking. I'm guessing the 2 chicken breasts I used were inadequate in terms of possible flavor-inducing'ness'??? Idk, I would definitely opt for broth next time and use bones. It still turned out delicious though, because I may have cheated just a tiny bit by adding some "better than bouillion", but don't @ me. Happy Friday y'all!