by Lynn Greene
Soup: Good for the soul and the tummy
I love a good bowl of soup any time of year, but my soup-making
skills are really in high gear once the cool weather sets
in.
For one thing, I live in an old farmhouse that can be
very dry in the winter. Not only that, my kitchen is not
heated — no radiators or heat vents, not a one. A pot of
soup on the stove not only adds some humidity to the air
but it warms the place up. So, you can imagine ... if it’s
the weekend in fall or winter, I have a pot of soup on
the stove.
My favorite is chicken or turkey soup. It can have homemade
noodles, dumplings, pasta, matzo balls, tiny tortellini,
rice or barley but it must have carrots. That’s my own
personal rule, carrots and chicken just sort of go together.
Now, lot’s of people would say that they don’t know how
to make soup from scratch but that’s just crazy talk. And,
it’s easy. Start with a turkey or chicken carcass — if
you’ve made a roasted chicken or even a turkey breast,
you’ve got the beginnings for a fine pot of soup.
If you have a hankering for soup but no leftovers in sight,
pick up a few pounds of chicken wings. They are usually
very reasonably priced because the premium meat on a chicken
is the breast meat, and what do the butchers do with the
rest of the chicken? They package it and sell it for what
the market will bear. That means the wings are cheapest.
They also make the best soup because the skin and bones
— that’s mostly what a wing is — add a lot of flavor to
a soup. Start by making a nice hearty broth and go from
there.
Chicken broth
3 lbs. chicken wings or 1 chicken or turkey carcass
3 quarts water
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbsps. chicken bullion
2 Tbsps. parsley flakes
1 large onion, cut in half
1 stalk celery, cut in half
1 tsp. whole peppercorns
1 Tbsp. dried crushed thyme
1 Bay leaf
Put all ingredients in a heavy stockpot and bring to a
boil. Cover and let simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour.
Strain out all the solids and leave the broth in the stock
pot. Clean any meat off the bones and add it back to the
stock pot. Discard the bones and the other solids. Continue
with your choice of chicken soup recipe.
Chicken noodle soup
1 recipe chicken broth
2 medium carrots
2 celery stalks
1 large onion
8 oz. raw egg noodles or pasta
1/4 cup pickle juice (optional)
Bring the chicken broth to a boil. Cut carrots, celery
and onion into 1/2-inch pieces and add to broth. Cook until
carrots are tender. Add the raw noodles and pickle juice
and turn heat down to a soft boil and cook until pasta
is tender. Adjust the seasonings, adding salt and pepper
to taste.
Variations
Instead of the raw noodles or pasta:
• For chicken rice soup, add 3/4 cup uncooked rice, either
white, brown or wild or a combination.
• For chicken barley soup, add 1 cup frozen corn and 2/3
cup raw barley.
• For chicken vegetable, add 1/2 cup each of cut green
beans, diced potatoes, frozen corn and frozen peas.
• For sopa de prasa (shepherd’s soup) replace the onion
with 3 leeks, sliced into 1/4-inch slices and add 2 cups
diced potatoes and 1 tsp. nutmeg. Cook uncovered for an
hour or so to reduce the amount of liquid and just before
serving add 1 can (12-15 oz. size) evaporated milk. Reduce
heat once the milk is added and do not let soup boil.
— Lynn Greene is senior editor for Community Shoppers Inc., which publishes the Walworth County Sunday. Contact her at lgreene@ communityshoppers.com. |
