It’s Soup-er!
When last week’s Berkshire Eagle column appeared in print, it was two days before my husband’s second knee replacement surgery. Now the deed is done and he has a matching set! I’ll definitely be making more chicken soup, both for the comfort and for the protein!
COMFORT IN A BOWL
by Elizabeth Baer
When it feels like there’s nothing I can do to make a situation better, I tend to go into the kitchen. In recent days, one friend had major surgery, was in the hospital for over a week and soon will start chemo; and another friend’s husband had a heart attack and bypass surgery thereafter; and my husband is about to have his second total knee replacement. In response to all of this, I’ve been making pots of chicken soup.
Chicken soup is truly ubiquitous. I have a cookbook by Mimi Sheraton titled, The Whole World Loves Chicken Soup: Recipes and Lore to Comfort Body and Soul, and it contains recipes from around the world. Whether the clearest, most delicate consommé or a bowl of something spicy, full of pieces of chicken and vegetables, they’re all in there.
I will admit that I always have homemade chicken stock in the freezer, and I usually use that whenever I’m making soup (or anything else that calls for stock or broth). But, just to make sure I had it right, I made my most recent batch with store-bought broth. I prefer to use an organic, low-sodium product so I can control the saltiness, but if you have homemade stock, by all means use it (and you probably won’t want to dilute it as I do here with store-bought).
Chicken soup is somewhat of a choose-your-own-adventure recipe. My husband is not fond of celery and loves parsnips, so I use little of the former and much of the latter. If you like a lot of chicken in your soup, use all of it in the finished product, but if you prefer less, or even a soup with only vegetables and no pieces of meat, use some or all of the cooked chicken to make something else, like chicken salad. It matters not whether, once cooked, you cut the chicken into cubes or shred it. I like to ask what my diners prefer.
If you want to add noodles or rice or matzoh balls, it’s best to do that on a per serving basis. For larger noodles or rice, cook first then add to the soup, otherwise you may end up with more of a porridge than a soup. I do find that a small amount of very thin egg noodles can be cooked successfully right in the soup.
People far and wide believe in the healing power of chicken soup, often called ‘Jewish penicillin.’ I will leave it to the medical field to explain any scientific rationale for this. But what I do know is that sitting down to a bowl of chicken soup, especially one that has been made with love, will feed your soul in a way that can only be good for the body, too.
CHICKEN SOUP
Makes about 3 quarts
INGREDIENTS:
1 quart store-bought chicken broth, preferably low-sodium organic
2 quarts cold water
2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
1 small onion, unpeeled, cut in half through the root end
1 sprig parsley (optional)
1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
3 large carrots, about 12 ounces, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
2 large parsnips, about 12 ounces, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
2-3 celery stalks, about 4 ounces, peeled and cut into thin slices
DIRECTIONS:
In a large pot, combine the chicken broth and water. Add the chicken breasts and bring to a boil over high heat. As the pot comes to a boil, watch for any foam that rises to the surface and remove using a mesh skimmer or shallow spoon. The foam can cause the pot to boil over, so watch carefully through this stage.
Once there seems to be little or no foam forming, add the onion, parsley (if using), and salt, and reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes.
Remove and discard the onion and parsley, and remove the chicken to a plate. Add the vegetables and raise the heat to bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
While the vegetables are cooking, once chicken is cool enough to handle, remove and discard the skin and bones. If using the meat in the soup, cut into cubes or shred as preferred and return to the pot. If you want less meat or no meat in the finished soup, reserve the meat for another use, such as chicken salad.
After the vegetables have been simmering for fifteen minutes, scoop out a piece of carrot and test for doneness with a cake tester or a fork. If necessary, continue simmering and checking every 5 minutes until done. Taste and add salt if needed.