Chicken Soup: The Ultimate Comfort Food!
After a week of travel on the Rhine River sampling the
culinary offerings of four countries - Netherlands, Germany, France, and
Switzerland - I decided that our first dinner at home was going to be chicken
soup. Chicken soup has to be the ultimate
comfort food, frequently referred to as “Jewish Penicillin”. And the name suits
it; chicken soup done right cures what ails you. It was the perfect dish for two
weary travelers, recently returned from distant lands, after breathing who
knows what on airplanes, and both suffering from a serious case of jet lag.
I have fond memories of my Mother making chicken soup around
the holidays, especially Passover, where Matzo Balls were always added. I have never made matzo balls myself, nor
have I ever looked at a recipe for chicken soup until today - even though I
have made it probably three or four dozen times.
But I do remember a few family secrets regarding the making
of matzo balls, and maybe, if you are lucky, I might entice my brother Joe into
writing a guest blog about the art of making perfect matzo balls. Joe is
sort of a foodie too, and spends a fair amount of time in the kitchen. (I actually called him today to consult on
what herbs he adds to his soup.)
What I know for sure about chicken soup with matzo balls:
·
Never open the lid on the pot they are cooking
in
·
I think soda water comes in somewhere
·
Don’t actually cook them in the soup
Chicken soup is incredibly simple to make. You start off
with one large whole chicken – discard organs but throw the neck in the pot
too. Use the largest pot you have. Add two cut up yellow onions, and four
chopped up stalks of celery. I add thyme,
about a teaspoon or more, at least a tablespoon of basil, and about a
tablespoon of dill. Fill the pot with
water just above the chicken. Some folks
add salt and pepper at this time; I might add just a little pepper, but for the
most part I leave salt and pepper to be added at the table to individual taste.
·
1 large chicken
·
2 yellow onions
·
4 large celery stalks
·
3 medium to large carrots
·
2 medium parsnips
·
thyme
·
basil
·
dill
·
1 bunch parsley
·
1 tablespoon minced garlic
·
chicken bouillon
Set to boil and add one whole bunch of
parsley roughly chopped and a tablespoon of minced garlic. Bring pot to boil, then cover, reduce to
medium heat, and go do something else for at least an hour and a half to two
hours. Did I mention that if you are
going to make chicken soup, while it is very easy, it is an all-afternoon ordeal?
So, don’t try to make this comfort meal in a rush!
When you return to your pot after a couple of hours, your
chicken should be falling apart. Fish
out the chicken, the bones, the skin, and then set aside to cool.
Now here is where the Sklar family secret comes in – add bouillon. I actually use about 1½ tablespoon of the low
sodium “Better than Bouillon” brand that comes in a jar.
There is a story behind this Sklar
family secret. Caveat: I was only about 2 or 3 years old, but as I remember it,
here is how the story goes: Shortly
after the “Six-Day War” that took place in 1967, my Mom traveled by herself with
me, my brother Joe, and my sister Roberta to Israel to meet up with my Dad who
is an Israeli. Dad had gone in advance
to his parents to make sure it was safe for us to follow. So here is a mid-thirty-year-old lady traveling
half way around the world with three children by herself in the late 1960s to
Israel which had just completed a war.
Not knowing what she might be
facing, my Mom packed chicken bouillon cubes, thinking she could always find
hot water. She arrives in Israel and we
fast forward to her first Sabbath dinner at her in-laws little apartment in
Haifa. Times are tough in Israel, and
people have to be resourceful. My
Grandmother, who was so pleased to have not only her daughter-in-law there with
her but also her three grandchildren, poured love into making a special Sabbath
dinner that included, of course, chicken soup and roasted chicken.
She soaked the chicken in the hot
water, before removing it and roasting it as the main course. My Mom who had peeked in the kitchen and
sampled the evening dishes, noticed something greatly lacking from my
Grandmother’s soup – flavor. So my resourceful
mother added just a few of her bouillon cubes without my Grandmother
knowing. I wish I had been old enough to
have seen and to remember the look on my Grandmother’s face when she tasted her
soup for the first time. It was a miracle of flavor that she could never figure
out or duplicate!
With the chicken now removed, I now let the soup rest during
this period at simmer. Add in two medium
parsnips and three medium to large carrots that have been chopped, not
diced. Cutting them too small might
produce mushy veggies – yuck! I like my
root vegetables to have some texture to them.
When the chicken has cooled, pick out the bones, cartledge,
and skin. Everything else gets put back
in the soup after you have hand shred. I
don’t chop it up; you will have enough smaller pieces and I like to see actual
chicken in my soupspoon! Return the
chicken with all of its “goodness” back into the bowl, and bring the heat up to
medium – don’t bring to a boil - and let it cook for another half hour to
hour. About twenty minutes before you
serve, add in one package of egg noodles.
You have just made enough soup to not only have dinner
tonight, but leftovers for days to come.
You can also give away some to any friends who might be sick or in the need
of some comfort food. I also always
reserve enough to freeze at least one or two dinners’ worth. As we prepare for the coming of winter, this
is one you’ll want to try.
