The Art of Chicken Soup
Until recently, I’d never made chicken soup of any kind. Putting forth effort to never denigrate the lore of and, certainly, the reputation of this most delicious and satisfying soup, I made a pact with myself to never make it until I was sure I could do it right the first time.
That time had come.
That bowl of soup above is an example of a life-affirming event for me. Yeah, yeah, I know – here he goes again with the stories of food making life worth living. You should be glad I have these episodes so that I don’t wallow in misery all the time!
The broth is absolutely key here, which means that everything that goes into making the broth is of absolute importance. I finally got a clue about making this broth from the book that makes a cameo appearance in the photo above: Alice Waters‘ The Art of Simple Food. Indeed, simple is what this is: one free-range organic whole chicken (preferable dead and plucked of feathers), carrots, celery, onions, garlic, salt, peppercorns, a bit of bouquet garni, a bunch of water, and some time to kick back, relax, and read.
After approximately six hours of low simmering, the broth was finished and I was left with the equivalent of culinary gold and some exquisitely tender chicken. I used some of the broth for the soup and froze the rest for sauces and such. After adding freshly chopped carrots, all I needed to do was bring the soup to a simmer again to soften the carrots a bit and then finish off with a final seasoning of salt and pepper. Saltiness is important to a good chicken soup.
I added some of the shredded chicken and some home-made noodles to the bowl and, voila, instant comfort.
And, do I have to say that Kim thought it was the best chicken soup she’d ever had? I’d have to humbly agree with her. It was even better than my Mom’s.
‘Fina must be hating you lately…
I don’t think she’s hating it much. I may be posting all the meaty experiments I’ve been doing as of late, but that’s basically comprised only a day a week or even less. We’re always on the vegetarian menu the rest of the time. When it comes to that, I’ve done most of the experimentation I can for the quicker evening meals. There’ll be vegetarian dishes coming up soon. Don’t you worry, fella.
A day a week or less?!
You did it three times last week, alone!
:D
Oh Fina, I think it’s high time we really kidnapped you.
Now hold on here, kiddo! If I allowed you to eat what you wanted all the time, you’d turn into a big fat bowl of macaroni and cheese! Last week, which was an aberration, mind you, I made meat dishes TWICE. In a typical week, I might make some other meat side dish to a vegetarian main course, to cater to you, my dear. So, you shush! Also, let’s not forget that I’m experimenting here and your mom and Hero also get the stiff once or so a week unless they want to try what I make, which has been successful so far. Your sister ate, count ‘em, two bowls of soup which, as you know, is great for that skinny kid.
Yeah, Mary, you’ll have your chance to nab her all you want in July….ha ha ha.
you should really make french onion soup while i’m there!
Oh, yeah!
Les Halles has what looks like a great recipe for that, too!
But then you wouldn’t eat it, would you?
Cas – it sounds like maybe it’s time we kidnapped you!