My husband, Darren, found this soup online when we were going through some nasty sickness. Not only for "getting better" reasons, I absolutely love the soup while dieting!! It's so yummy too!! Darren has made it once a week the past 3 weeks and he and I are pretty much the only ones that eat it, which is nice that way it lasts quite awhile. It takes awhile to make but it is so worth it!
Italics added by Darren
Thanks to Google for helping me find this great recipe at - http://jewishpenicillin.blogspot.com/
INGREDIENTS
1. Chicken Depending on how much soup you want to make. You can use a whole chicken, or let's say 6 to 9 quarters (thigh/leg combo's). I use 6 leg quarters. They just fit in my largest pot. And they’re prepackaged that way.
2. Onions - 3 med to large onions. Ends cut off and peeled. I use 4 med or 3 large, but I like onion.
3. Carrots - 1 cup of either baby carrots (easy) or cut pieces from large carrots that you have to wash and peel. 2 cups of baby carrots is perfect.
4. Parsnip - a large one (looks like a white carrot), cut the ends off and use the peeler to clean it. I use 2 to 3 large peeled parsnips.
5. Celery Stalks - 3 or 4 washed and the ends trimmed. Use at least 4 if not 6.
6. Fresh Dill - 1/2 bunch
7. Fresh Parsley 1/2 bunch (curled or flat) Wash both the dill and parsley in a large bowl or sink at least 3 times with cold water. You can let it soak for a few minutes, which will help any grit to fall off. There's nothing worse than grit in chicken soup so do a good job. I like to use kitchen string and I tied the dill and parsley together in a tight bundle. I cook it that way and then it's easy to take it out when the soup is done. If you don’t have kitchen string it’s okay. It comes out of the pot easy if you haven’t stirred it in.
8. Salt - 2 teaspoons.
9. Chicken bouillon - 2 tablespoons - powdered type.
HERE'S HOW YOU DO IT:
HERE'S HOW YOU DO IT:
- Use a big pot that has a lid. If you don't have a lid, you can use foil when you need it.
- Rinse the chicken, pull off any unnecessary fat that the butcher left on to weigh it down.
- Put the rinsed chicken pieces in the bottom of the pot.
- Add COLD water to cover the chicken and then some.
- Toss in the 2 teaspoons of salt.
- Heat on high until it begins to boil.
- Turn the heat down some and stand there with it. A foamy scum will start to float. Use a slotted spoon to remove it. Repeat this until you don't see any more coming up. Now cover the pot and turn the heat to low so that it continues to simmer for 1 1/2 hrs. You'll know your chicken is done when all you have to do is touch the skin with your spoon and the skin breaks.
- Now you can remove the chicken into a bowl pouring back into the pot any soup that escaped. Cover the bowl of chicken and set aside. I let it cool for a half hour while I cook the vegetables. Then I pull it apart, removing all the skin, fat, and bones.
- Now, using a hand held fine sieve (strainer) scoop through the liquid to remove any chicken pieces or debris that might have broken away during the long boil. I don’t have a strainer so have never done this step.
- This is when you will stir in the two tablespoons of powdered chicken bouillon.
- Gently put in the onions, carrots, parsnip, celery, and bundled dill/parsley.
- Bring back to a boil, cover, and lower the heat to low to keep it simmering for another 1 to 1.5 hrs. I always do 1.5 hours. The onions taste fantastic when they’re thoroughly cooked.
- I like to then take out the greens (the dill and parsley).
- Let it cool down for a while and then put it in the fridge. You can turn the pot lid upside down to help it fit. I usually let it cool for 4 to 6 hours before putting it in the fridge because it’s so hot.
- Tomorrow you will skim the fat, (put the chicken in the pot), heat, and serve.
- You can warm the cooked chicken right in the soup as you reheat it. Some people like chicken IN their soup. We like to eat the chicken separately and we make little egg noodles (pick your favorite) to serve in the bowl of soup. I always put the chicken in the soup. It’s so good J
That's it. That's all there is to it.
