Chicken Soup?

[GroobySteven]

Chefmike - your best recipe please?
seanchai

[chefmike]

Chefmike - your best recipe please?
seanchai

I'll PM you one later today. Got some work to do this AM. The key to a good chicken soup is a homemade chicken stock, are you familiar with stocks? And for how many people?

[chefmike]

Since we have already started a thread on chicken soup, I'll just post it here. Maybe this will inspire someone who only eats out, or does take-out, delivery, etc. to give it a try.

I like to use the analogy that a good soup or sauce is like building a house, you need a strong foundation.

So I will start with a basic chicken stock. If you must use commercial chicken stock, you can add these herbs and vegetables, simmer an hour or so, and strain.

There are a multitude of chix soup variations...tex-mex tortilla, thai, greek (a favorite, tho it's been awhile since I've made this one), etc.

I'm gonna assume you want a basic homemade chix soup.

Basic Chicken Stock

If you're gonna make chix soup, you can cook your chix while making the stock. Otherwise, add cooked chix to whatever stock you are using.

one 3-4 lb chix rinsed (giblets, etc removed)/or 5 lbs chix bones
2 onions quartered
2 carrots (large slices, just hack em up)
2 celery stalks with leaves!! (the leaves have the flavor, hack em up)
1 head garlic, halved (some chefs omit this, your choice)
fresh thyme (at least 4 sprigs), or 2 tsp dried
parsley (I use a lot, 10 sprigs or more)
1 or 2 bay leaves
black peppercorns, 1 tsp, I like to give them a whack before adding

cover with cold water by 2 or 3 inches, bring to a boil over medium or medium high heat, then reduce to a simmer for about an hour and a half

remove chicken from bones and dice for soup, if you want a richer stock, add bones back to stock and simmer for another hour
when you are making stock, you need to skim stock for scum, fat, etc. throughout the process. and strain when done.
if you make this the day before, chill and strain the fat off before using, this fat is great, use it on potatoes, pasta, whatever...

A Basic Chicken Soup

2 tablespoons butter, oil, or a combination thereof (I like butter for flavor, just don't burn it)
1 medium onion chopped
2 carrots
2 ribs celery (how you cut the carrots and celery is according to your tastes, diced, large diced, bias, etc. its your soup)
garlic-3 cloves minced(omit this if you're a puritan)
4 fresh thyme sprigs or a pinch of dried
1 bay leaf
2 quarts chix stock
1 1/2 cups cooked chix, or more if you like
2 cups cooked egg noodles, your favorite pasta, rice, or matzoh balls, etc.
fresh parsley chopped, at least a half cup ( Italian flat leaf is the best!)
kosher salt and black pepper to taste

saute vegs over medium heat, do not brown, you just want to "sweat" them

add bay leaf and thyme
pour in chix stock and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer
add chix and cooked egg noodles, or whatever and simmer another 10 minutes or so...season with salt and pepper to taste
garnish with parsley before serving

note-you can cook egg noodles in soup after bringing it to a boil, if you don't want to cook them separately. just don't add your chix until after noodles are done...

[Ecstatic]

Excellent stock and soup recipies, Chefmike. Allow me to add a plug for two of my favorite variations: Thai and curried. For Thai, the key ingredient to add is galanga (a member of the ginger family); you can used powered, but I prefer to chuck in a handful of the chopped and dried root (if you can get fresh, it may be better, but I've yet to find fresh galanga in the market); you can add these in a bouquet garni if you want to remove the galanga prior to serving. I also add a drizzle of a homemade red oil (typically sesame toasted with dried habanero or bird peppers and strained; or for a change-of-pace orange peel added just before you finish the oil), a half-cup of coconut milk*, and curry leaves. If you don't have red oil, add some crushed bird pepper: but be careful, this stuff is truly hot.

I cheat for curried soup if I'm not making a true mulligatawny soup: simply add a tablespoon or so (to taste) of your favorite prepared curry powder, or mix up your own if you want. Makes a nice, quick variety.

Oh, and don't forget fresh rosemary and thyme, a nice touch for chicken soup, especially if you grow your own.

*If you can't find canned coconut milk in a Thai/Indian market or fancy supermarket, you can make it. Just pour some boiling water over fresh grated or packaged UNSWEETENED coconut. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, then blend in a blender or food processor and strain as finely as you can, pressing the solids hard before throwing them out. Add the coconut milk at the last possible minute because its distinctive flavor degrades quickly in high heat.

[chefmike]

Good stuff, ecstatic. Although speaking of curry, I prefer the pastes to the powders. And I prefer a homemade chili paste (roasted peppers, roasted ground cumin seeds, garlic, fresh oregano, maybe some hungarian paprika) to a dried chili powder. I'm gettin hungry...

[Ecstatic]

Got to agree with you on paste vs. powder. Don't forget the tumeric if you want that rich orange color (though a red or green curry is fine, and Thai style with coconut if you want). But I was thinking that most folks will have powder to hand but not paste, which spoils much more quickly (but tastes so much better which it's fresh).

[chefmike]

I agree, I was referring to the chili paste that I use for tex-mex chili...as for a more asian flavor , I love fresh ground roasted coriander and tamarind paste...

PS...are those guys that wrote the Thrill of the Grill cookbooks based in Beantown? I love their stuff.

[yourdaddy]

My grandma used to add the skimmed off chicken fat to her pancake batter. It made her pancakes lay down like crepes, and made them more flavorful and chewy.

[Ecstatic]

Right you are, Chef. Chris Schlesinger, author of Thrill of the Grill, is the chef/owner of East Coast Grill in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and won the James Beard Award for the Best Chef in the Northeast in the late '90s.

[chefmike]

My grandma used to add the skimmed off chicken fat to her pancake batter. It made her pancakes lay down like crepes, and made them more flavorful and chewy.

That sounds good. Certainly we can put our political differences aside on a cooking thread. And speaking of southern cooking, buttermilk!!! In cornbread, mashed potatoes, as a fish marinade...you people who who aren't familiar with this...think of it as a redneck creme fraiche...and it's better...