Inevitably, the flu season finally reached us. I always find it amazing that when you have no appetite whatsoever and all you do is lay dead on the couch nurturing a huge pile of used tissues, the only food you can actually eat is the Jewish grandma secret medicine – a.k.a chicken soup. I got this recipe from my partner’s mother, after he once got sick and miserable and asked for a chicken soup “just like his mother’s”.
This is a very basic recipe without any special additions. Handling a whole chicken might be a challenging experience to some (even if you’re not a vegetarian/vegan) but once you pass this obstacle there is hardly any work left.
By the way, I usually prepare chicken soup along with cucumber and dill salad. The Polish grandma mood you slip into when you cook chicken soup just goes well with this salad, but it also practical since I don’t use dill a lot in my cooking and those are the two most common recipes I do use it in. I’ll definitely post the recipe for this salad in the near future (the original recipe of grandma Rose!).
I promise to quickly return with some great Indian dishes that got postponed following this exhausting flu week.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: hour and a half
Ingredients (for a large pot, 10-12 generous servings)
- 1 whole chicken, divided with skin removed
- 1 parsley root
- 1 celery root
- 2 carrots
- 2 zucchini (optional)
- 1 big onion
- a handful parsley leaves with stemps
- a handful dill leaves with stems
- 5 celery stems with leaves
- salt and pepper
Directions
Divide the chicken and remove the skin. Fill your biggest pot with water up to about 3/4 height (you should have enough space left for the chicken and veggies). Add the chicken pieces, bring to a boil and cook on medium heat for half an hour. During that time a grey foam will start to appear on top – just take it out with a spoon.
After about half an hour add the vegetables, roughly chopped. Note that both the parsley and celery celery root should be peeled. Add the parsley, dill and celery. Generously season with salt and pepper. Cook for one more hour on medium heat.
You can serve this immediately, but the taste becomes more concentrated after few hours or a night in the kitchen. This soup is based with Shkedei Marak (soup mandels) or with thin soup noodles (or both). By the way, separate the chicken meat by hand and serve without the skin or bones.
Comments and suggestions
Whole chicken. The traditional Jewish grandma way of making chicken soup is using whole chicken. You make this procedure easier by asking the butcher to divide the chicken, take off the skin and remove some of the fat. If you are still worried you can just replace the whole chicken with 4 chicken legs (divided to thighs and drumsticks) + chicken/turkey neck.
Variations. It’s possible to vary from this basic recipe and add bay leaves, leek, potato (it will make the soup less clear), cauliflower and/or garlic. You can also increase the amount of vegetables according to your liking.
In short
Place a divided whole chicken (skin removed) in a large pot filled with water up to 3/4 of its height. Bring to a boil and cook for half an hour on medium heat. Remove the foam that appears on top using a spoon. Coarsly chop 2 carrots, 2 zucchini, 1 large onion, 1 parsley root and 1 celery root, and add to the soup. Add a handful of parsley leaves, a handfull of dill leaves and 5 celery leaves stems with leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat for 1 more hour.
