My Chicken Soup

No Blog the last few days, because I have been sick with a bad cold.

When I am sick I want homemade chicken soup.  Canned wont cut it.  I want a big, very, very HOT bowl of homemade soup, with whole grain toast and orange juice. Always makes me feel much better.  My Mom made the best brothy soup I have ever had.  I get pretty close, but it is as never as good as hers.
 

Remember these are out of my head.  They are not written down. Until Now. Please remember I am not a professional cook. Ive never had any real training. Most of what I know Ive taught myself through trial and error.

Whenever I make chicken, I keep the necks, wingtips, and backs, and the carcasses of a picked clean bird.( like a store bought rotisserie) I freeze them.  I have figured out they make the best stock.


 My Stock:

Celery
a good BIG stinky onion. Like a yellow one

Fresh or jarred garlic. Chopped if it is fresh, to equal about a tablespoon and a half.
Butter about 2 tsp.
Pepper 1/2 tsp
Paprika 1 tsp
Poultry seasoning 1 tsp
Dried parsley 1-2 Tablespoons I like extra parsley!
Salt
Chicken pieces: Wing tips, backs, necks, chicken carcass equal to at least a pound.

Also can use, but not necessary: Powder chicken bullion, or Ramen chicken seasoning packets.

cut the first 3 ingredients into small pieces and fry in the butter. just until the onion starts to get opaque and everything is smelling nice.  Add the water and pepper, chicken, paprika, parsley and poultry seasoning.

Simmer for 60 minutes to 4 hours. The timing depends on how sick you are, or how much time u have.  I actually simmer for about an hour if i am sick and want soup NOW.   Add water as it dissipates. You want everything to flavor the water. At this point I start tasting the broth.  Can add some Chicken bullion, if it doesn't taste right, or Chicken  Ramen seasoning is great in a pinch .

Strain the broth out and discard all the bones.  You can strain through a  cheesecloth, if you want a broth for cannning or freezing. I like to Strain it very very well, having only a very clear broth then freeze in ice cubes trays, and use at a later date, for pasta, sauces, gravies...ect

But for my soup, at this point,  I just remove the bones, skin , wingtips and neck.  Go slow and carefully, I have missed so many small bones.

Now we make soup! :)

I usually scour the fridge in search of leftovers to utilize. ( in  another blog i will deal with a family favorite, leftover soup) Leftover broccoli from dinner, or some white rice from chicken shoyu...ect.. set them aside


3 cups of water
Chicken: Can be whatever u want at this point. I usually use two breasts, two thighs and 2-4 legs( depending on their size)  

Put the chicken and the water in a big pot and boil for about 45 minutes, letting the water boil down and the chicken cooked through.

Remove the chicken and let cool. Remove all the skin and bones, cut into small bite sized pieces, set aside.

these are the basic for any soup:
Carrots about 3 or 4 regular sized ,cut into small pieces. If u use baby carrots, cut them up  until you have about 1/2-3/4 cup.
Potatoes 2-3 medium, cut into small cubes
Celery 2-3 stalks, cut into small pieces
Corn  about a half cup
Green beans( frozen or fresh) about a half cup


the broth we just made above.

Cut into small pieces and add to the water you just cooked the chicken in, bring to a simmer and cook until almost tender, add the cut up chicken and the broth.

Add some more parsley, pepper, paprika, poultry seasoning, all to taste.



Hint: You should never boil soup. Can make it mushy.




I like to also add:
fresh spinach......... chopped very small
parsnip
Zucchini
corn
peas (always frozen never canned)
you can add just about any vegetable you feel like

Also I love to add a can of V8 if I am not sick and am just making soup to eat because we want soup!


Any leftovers that you found that would go well into  the soup, if they've been precooked, add them now. Simmer the soup for about 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are done.

You can make pasta and serve the pasta in the bowl then add the soup. We always do it this way instead of IN the soup.
I almost never add pasta TO THE POT  of soup, because later it swells up and turns it into a stew. And I prefer my soup very brothy.

Now here's a tip I picked up somewhere, you should never BOIL soup once its all together, but gently simmer it.

I serve this with a good crusty oven warmed bakery bread with butter, for dipping, while the soup cools.

Enjoy!!