There is nothing quite like home made chicken soup, and it's surprisingly simple to make! As with most recipes that I get into, they take much more time than effort. Read on if interested :)
The goal here is to get about two quarts of stock out of one chicken carcass, and the primary ingredients are the bones and skin, and use the meat for the eventual soup. These are two completely distinct tasks, and can be completely separate. I.E., you can take the bones/skin from a chicken you prepared for a meal and just make stock for use later, if you like.
Thus, I am going to divide the process into two recipes.
Stock
Contrary to popular belief, the bones and skin do not have to be from a cooked chicken, and in fact when using uncooked parts you will probably wind up with a stronger stock. The difference is subtle enough that I would not break a sweat over it.
What you will need:
Leftover bones and skin from a cooked or raw chicken carcass
Salt
Pepper
(some or all of the following four)
Celery (2 stalks, ends trimmed)
Onions (1 medium, peeled and chopped)
Carrots (2, peeled and cut into small pieces)
Parsley (2 Sprigs)
Garlic (1 Clove, crushed)
Put the remains of the chicken into a large pot and cover with cold water (i'd use at least 2 quarts). Add some veggies (personally, I'd use them all), a teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. If there is leftover meat on the bones, even better. Just remember that everything you add to this you will be discarding later, keeping only the broth, so don't worry about making things pretty. Everything you add here is strictly for flavor.
Bring to a boil then immediately reduce heat to a VERY slow simmer. Cook this way for at least 4 hours, checking it now and then to skim off any foam on top, and add water as needed to keep it at the original level. The longer it simmers, the better, just make sure you keep an eye on the level of the water! You really can't simmer it too long, but anything more than six is a little overkill.
Here is what mine looked like after three hours:
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| Yeah, it's ugly, and I did not use all the ingredients, but whatever. |
If you intend to use it immediately for soup, skip to the next step. Otherwise, you can return it to the pot and let it simmer until about half of the liquid has boiled off. This will make it easier to store. Just remember to add enough water to bring it back to the right concentration when you do use it. Pour it into clean mason jars and freeze.
Soup
What you will need:
Chicken Meat (duh)
Thick Egg Noodles (~ 3 Cups)
Chicken Stock (again, duh)
Canned Chicken Broth (1 Quart) (you might not need it, but I'd have it on hand just in case)
Butter (2 Tablespoons)
One or more optional ingredients:
Celery (2 stalks, ends trimmed) (This is KEY to the flavor of the soup)
Carrots (4, peeled)
Onions (2 medium, peeled and chopped)
Parsley (max 8 Sprigs) (adds a nice color texture but very little flavor)
Thyme (max 2 Sprigs)
Bay Leaf (1)
Leeks (4, root ends and top trimmed)
Potato gnocchi (2 Cups)
Now before you go out and buy all that optional stuff, remember that you don't HAVE to use everything. Add what you like. The quantities I suggested are the maximum I would use, you don't have to use that much, and you can even use more if you like. Once you've made this a few times, you'll know what works best for you and those you are feeding. You already have the stock, and that is where most of the flavor comes from :)
I don't normally use the garlic, but it does add a nice bit of flavor. The bay leaf will also add some flavor, and if you don't like bay leaf, then don't add it. Same goes for everything else. If you aren't going to like it, don't add it to the soup :)
You want to start with about 3 quarts of liquid. Remember, we aren't making stew, and we aren't adding anything that is going to absorb the broth besides the egg noodles, and they won't take much. The more stuff you add, the more soup you will wind up with. Keep this in mind when choosing the pot you are going to use.
A word about the broth.. If you don't quite have three quarts, you can always add water. If your stock tastes a little weak, use broth instead of water. If it is STILL too weak, simmer it down a bit by itself to bring the water content down. You'll know when its right.
Now that you have three quarts of broth, its time to get busy :)
I am going to be honest with you, using raw chicken will be better here. The reason is that you will be slow cooking it in the broth, and will be VERY tender. Cooked chicken will work just fine, so don't sweat it if that's what you already have.
Here we go... Put the stock into a large pot and bring to a boil then immediately reduce heat to a very slow simmer. If you don't quite have three quarts, add water to bring it up to that amount. If the stock is too weak (taste it and see!), and you have more than two quarts, simmer it down to 2 quarts and add the chicken broth.
REMEMBER: If you are using stock that you already reduced before freezing, don't forget to add water to bring it back to its original strength, or to taste.
It's not quite ready for our soup yet, so lets add the thyme and bay leaf. If you are using raw chicken, add the meat. Make sure the chicken is completely covered by the broth. You don't have to cut it up yet, but if you have to in order to make sure its submerged, go ahead. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.
Simmer for 30 minutes. If you added raw chicken, add another hour, and periodically skim any fat off the top of the broth.
Remove chicken and set aside.
Strain the broth one more time, discarding the herbs and any other solids, and put it back into the pot.
Time to prepare the vegetables!
Depending on what you are adding to the soup, prepare as follows:
Carrots, Celery, Onion and Leeks into 1/4 inch thick pieces
Parsley chopped fine
In a frying pan, saute the onions in the butter until translucent, about 7 minutes.
Now lets make some kick ass soup!
Cut the chicken into 1/2 inch pieces. Remove any skin and bones first, if needed.
Put everything (except the egg noodles and gnocchi) into the broth and simmer for about an hour to make sure the veggies are tender.
Meanwhile, check the cook time on the gnocchi (its on the package). After you've had the veggies and chicken simmering for an hour, add the gnocchi to the soup. When it has 10 minutes to go, add the egg noodles.
In ten minutes, your masterpiece is done :)
Enjoy!
Remember, this is YOUR soup. You should experiment with ingredients and quantities to get what YOU want. That is, after all, the whole point to home cooking.
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