Chicken Soup – Good For What Ails You

Chicken soup is synonymous for most people with being a homemade remedy for anything that’s got you down.  In the neighborhood I grew up in, and amongst some of my Jewish friends now, it is known as Jewish penicillin.Everybody loves a good chicken soup whether they are sick or not.  Actually, chicken soup is a favorite for most people and considered by many a valued comfort food.  A kind of throw back to childhood.

Who doesn’t love to sit down with a bowl of steaming hot, fragrant soup?  But for one reason or another, people are often intimidated to make this classic soup from scratch.  If you happen to fall into that group of cooks, perhaps there is fear that any attempt you make won’t live up to your high expectation of making soup that falls into the “best chicken soup I ever ate” category.

Or maybe you just don’t know how easy it is to make really good chicken soup.  There is no mystery, but there is a secret and the secret is good broth.  And good broth has a secret of its own.  The secret is simple.  The simple secret to making good broth is…..wait for it….salt.  Yep, that’s right, it is just salt.  Most people way underestimate the amount of salt to use and consequently end up with soup that tastes like dishwater.  If that has happened to you, you are in luck because now you too know the secret.  Of course your other ingredients have to be fresh and good as well, or all you’ll end up with is well seasoned, not so good soup.  But assuming you buy good basic ingredients, there is no reason you can’t make a beautiful bowl of “the best chicken soup I ever ate!”

The Best Chicken Soup I Ever Ate

2 large chicken breasts bone-in and skin on
2 cups minced carrots
1 onion chopped
2 cups diced celery with leaves
1 rounded Tablespoon kosher salt
12 cups water
1/2 cup minced flat leaf parsley or cilantro
Lime juice
Rice, or quinoa or alphabet pasta (optional) Add approximately 1/2 cup uncooked
Noodles

Fill a soup pan with the 12 cups of water and add salt.  Place the chicken breasts in the salted water and bring to a boil then reduce  heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.  You can certainly use a whole chicken or any pieces of chicken that you may prefer.  While I personally have no problem with dark meat and really like it for some things, in a classic chicken soup, I prefer chunks of white breast meat.   Whatever pieces of chicken you use, it is really important that you use chicken with bones and skin.  The bones add a richness to the taste of your broth and the skin adds just the right amount of fat. Fat, albeit a really small amount in this case, is important because it is the fat that holds the flavors and ultimately makes your soup more satisfying.

While your chicken is cooking, chop the carrots, onion and celery.

Remove chicken from broth and allow to cool.  Add carrots, onion and celery to broth and cook for about 15 minutes while the chicken cools.  When chicken has cooled enough to handle, remove skin and bones and dice chicken into chunks.

Add chicken to broth and allow soup to cook for 5 minutes.  Add parsley or cilantro and cook 1-2 minutes more until everything is thoroughly heated and flavors are combined.  (Parsley is the more classic choice here but, if you are a fan of cilantro, it is a great addition to the flavor.  If you are uncertain as to whether or not you will like it in your soup, simply sprinkle a few chopped leaves into your individual serving instead of putting it in the whole pot.)

This is the basic chicken soup.  At this point you can serve your soup as is, with a squeeze of lime juice in each serving (the lime juice surprisingly doesn’t taste like lime in the finished soup, it merely brightens all the other flavors).  Or, if you prefer, this is the point at which you can add any extras of your choice, for example rice, noodles, alphabet pasta, quinoa or even potatoes make a tasty addition.

A note about quinoa in case you are unfamiliar with it.  Quinoa is actually a seed but is considered a type of whole grain.  Quinoa has the highest protein content of any grain, and so is perfect for vegetarians and vegans. Quinoa provides all 9 essential amino acids, making it a complete protein. Quinoa is a gluten-free and cholesterol-free whole grain, and is almost always organic.  All these reasons make quinoa a wonderful choice as an addition to this or any other soup where you would usually add rice or noodles of some kind.

Whether you choose to make additions to your soup or not, come to the table hungry and ready to feel happy and satisfied by the time you leave it 🙂  Bon Appétit !