Chicken soup is a classic that doesn’t need much introduction. Enjoy on Friday night as is or with soup accompaniments like matzah balls, lukshen (noodles) or croutons.
Ingredients:
1-2 chickens and/or various parts. The more, the merrier!
2 carrots, sliced
2 stalks of celery, sliced
celery leaves, chopped or whole
2 zucchini, sliced
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, quartered
1 sweet potato, unpeeled
6 quarts water
optional: quartered white potatoes; makes a full meal!
Bring water and chicken to boil. Continue cooking about half an hour on low flame. If your family enjoys boiled chicken, just keep going, adding vegetables, sliced and chopped as you prefer. Cook at least another hour. If you like a stronger taste, keep cooking. Experiment and adjust quantities.
Your family prefers baked chicken? Remove the chicken from the soup after half an hour; longer will result in a bland taste. Refrigerate for later or bake with or without spices. Just replace with more chicken or other parts, which can be similarly handled. You may want to leave in a few pieces.
Here are some methods to cool down the soup as quickly as possible to avoid growth of bacteria: Put ice cubes in a baking bag and place the bag in the soup; replace ice as it melts. Pour the soup into a couple of smaller pots and immerse each into a large pot or container full of cold/icy water. The heat from the boiling soup will boil that cold water quickly, as the soup cools. Dump out the warm/hot water and refill the outer pot with cold; re-immerse. Repeat using ice water/ice cubes if possible. Refrigerate. Remove fat before reheating.
Optional: Reheat and cook for 20-30 minutes with fresh vegetables. Short on soup? Cook those fresh vegetables in the required (depends how short you are!) amount of water for about fifteen minutes. Add to soup and bring to a boil.
Tova Younger moved to Israel with her family nearly ten years ago, where she became a writer. Her book, Hands-on How-to’s for the Home and Heart, is a collection of tips and techniques to enhance your life, spiritually and practically, and includes over 50 easy recipes! You can purchase it at jewish-e-books.com. For more information email ytovay@gmail.com.
