Recipe by Esther Deutsch

Best Chicken Soup

Print
Meat Meat
Easy Easy
6 Servings
Allergens

No Allergens specified

8 Hours, 30 Minutes
Diets

The enduring Jewish gift gets rewrapped and fully loaded. The title of “best” is awarded to this recipe that has been years in the making. Here’s how: For the past decade, I have gathered ingredients from various chicken soups that I have enjoyed. I “borrowed” the idea of a fresh tomato from my mother, a green bell pepper from my mother-in-law, and fresh corn on the cob (yes! corn on the cob) and jalapeno peppers from my grandmothers. My sister-in-law, Michelle, suggested that I replace chicken quarters with chicken bones, and the amount of fresh garlic cloves has been gradually increased to reach a final culmination of at least a dozen cloves. And then…I let it gently simmer for a minimum of eight hours or longer. The longer chicken soup simmers, the better. I also wait for the soup to cool before it goes into the refrigerator. Soups that contain animal proteins will turn sour if refrigerated when hot.   This recipe has a long list of ingredients, but the results are truly worth it! As with most chicken soups, there is a slight difference every time you prepare this soup, but it’s always sublime. You can easily freeze the leftover stock or use it for the other soups featured in this column. Alternatively, you can use leftover chicken soup instead of water to prepare your side dishes for the week (such as rice, couscous, quinoa etc.) to add depth of flavor. You will find this soup lives up to its healing reputation on many levels: this rich, full bodied broth will surpass your expectations.

Ingredients

Soup

  • 1 pack chicken bones (2 and 1/2 pounds)

  • 1 pound flanken

  • 1 green bell pepper, halved and seeded

  • 1 pound peeled carrots, cut in half

  • 1 large sweet potato, peeled

  • 4 celery stalks, trimmed

  • 1 large potato, peeled

  • 1 – 2 large onions, peeled and halved

  • 3 leeks, trimmed

  • 12 whole cloves garlic

  • 2 fresh ears of corn

  • 1 parsnip, peeled

  • 1 turnip, peeled and quartered

  • 1 tomato, core removed

  • 1/2 of a very small jalapeno pepper, seeded

  • 2 large zucchini, peeled and halved

  • 1 bunch fresh dill

  • 1 bunch fresh parsley

  • 1 – 2 tablespoons Haddar Kosher Salt, or more to taste

  • fresh black pepper

Garnish

  • julienned carrots

  • julienned zucchini

Directions

Prepare the Soup

1.

Rinse chicken bones and flanken, and pat dry. Place chicken bones on the bottom of a large pot, and add the rest of the ingredients, placing the flanken, dill, and parsley on the top. Cover with water. Add salt and fresh black pepper. Bring to a boil.

2.

Cover and simmer for a minimum of eight hours. If you prefer, you can skim off the fat after the soup is refrigerated prior to reheating. Also, if you prefer a super-clear broth, put the soup through a strainer. When the soup is ready to be served, remove dill and parsley and discard.

3.

Garnish each bowl of soup with pieces of carrots and zucchini.

Best Chicken Soup

Please log in to rate

Reviews

Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments