Make Chicken Soup

Whether you've got the flu or you've just got a hankering, chicken soup is delicious, healthy, and easy to prepare. This endlessly-customizable recipe is hearty addition to any meal or a great centerpiece dish in its own right. Serves about 6.

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken, 3 to 4 pounds
  • Parsley
  • 2-1/2 quarts cold water (will vary - you need enough to cover your ingredients)
  • 2 cubes chicken bouillon (optional)
  • 2 teaspoons of salt
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 stalks celery with leaves, chopped
  • 2 large carrots, chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Steps

Preparing the Chicken

  1. Rinse chicken thoroughly. As with all poultry, use cold water when rinsing. Warm or hot water can promote the growth of bacteria that cause salmonella and other diseases.
  2. Check the internal cavity. Some chickens have their gizzards, neck, and/or other organs stuffed into their chest cavity. If this is the case with your chicken, be sure to remove these before proceeding, though it's unlikely that you would accidentally add them to the soup.
  3. Trim excess fat. Use a sharp knife, a pair of kitchen shears, or your bare hands to remove the loose, excess fat at the base of the chicken's torso. If put in the soup, this loose fat becomes a gross surprise for whoever is unlucky enough to eat it.
  4. Remove the legs. Pull each leg out from the body and remove it with a sharp knife. Once removed, you may want to divide the thigh from the drumstick by cutting along the "fat line" that marks the joint between the leg and thigh.
  5. Remove the wings. Similar to how you removed the legs, pull each wing out from the body and cut it away from the torso with a sharp knife. Cut the wing in half at the joint and discard the smaller "tip" portion.
  6. Cut up the breast. Use a sawing motion to remove the breast from the ribs (for safety purposes, cut back to front). Spread the breast out on a cutting board and separate it from the bone by making lengthwise cuts along either side of its center. Double check each breast after cutting to ensure there are no remaining bones or fragments.
    • At this point, you may chop the breasts into halves, quarters, or as many pieces as you'd like.
  7. Place chicken pieces in a large stock pot. When you've cut as much chicken meat as you'd like, simply add it to a large pot and you're done. If you'd prefer, you can also remove the skin, though this isn't essential.

Brewing the Soup

  1. Add water to cover, salt, and bay leaf. Add enough water to cover all of your chicken, but don't feel the need to over-do it - if your soup is too thick, you can always add more water later, while waiting for a watery soup to reduce is time-consuming.
    • For added flavor, you may optionally add the chicken bouillon at this point as well.
  2. Cover the pot and bring to boil. Over medium-high heat, this should take about 8-10 minutes, but may take more or less time depending on how much water you use.
  3. Uncover and skim off the top froth. When your water starts boiling, remove the lid and remove the froth at the top with a wooden spoon. This prevents the water from boiling over.
  4. Allow to simmer about 2 1/4 hours. Your goal is to make the chicken meat so soft that it falls off the bone. As your soup simmers, periodically check on it to ensure that the chicken is cooking nicely and to skim any froth off the top of the pot.
  5. Add the onions, celery, and carrots and a pinch or two of parsley. After your chicken has cooked for a few hours, you may add your vegetables, which take less time to cook.
  6. Allow to simmer about 45 minutes. Stir periodically to ensure even mixing and to eliminate top froth.
  7. Strain soup, saving the broth. Strain your soup into another pot or similar container so that you retain the broth. Remove chicken meat from the bone, discarding any unappetizing pieces. When finished, return broth, chicken, and vegetables to the pot and serve.
  8. Optionally, place cooked noodles or rice in bowl and add soup. To recreate a bowl of classic childhood "chicken noodle soup", simply add cooked noodles (or rice) to your soup. Pasta and rice take less time to cook than your soup takes to make, so you can prepare them while your soup is simmering with ample time to spare.



Variations

  • Substitute rice or dumplings for the noodles.
  • Substitute broth for water when cooking rice or noodles for more flavor.
  • Season with lots of dill. Salt and dill is all I use.
  • Add a splash of dry white wine for added layer of flavor - the alcohol cooks out so it's safe for children.
  • Add One can of tomatoes, drained. Alternatively spicy V-8 juice imparts a different flavor.
  • Use soy sauce and ginger for an Asian-style soup.
  • Add a can of refrigerator biscuits (cut into quarters) to soup in addition to noodles...simmer until biscuits are no longer doughy.
  • Add matzo balls. Look for Manischewitz brand mix in most ethnic food sections, needs an egg. Turn off heat till boiling stops, immediately drop in balls, return heat to very gentle simmer for 20 minutes. They will double in size.

Tips

  • You can also add chopped potatoes for a variation to your soup.
  • Make your own noodles or use good quality egg noodles
  • Add different vegetables for a delightful taste.
  • Add a dash of sugar to the soup, it adds a wonderful flavor

Related Articles

Retrieved from "https://kipkis.com/index.php?title=Make_Chicken_Soup&oldid=357562"