Hello Winter! Looks like you want to pull up a chair and stay for a while.
For those of you outside Toronto, just so you are with me here, today is -18 degrees celcius (0 farenheit) and we are expecting close to 20 centimeters of snow (7 inches). If there were ever a day to stay at home and cook up a big pot of chicken soup, well, today would be it.
This post easily could have been called “Love In A Bowl”, as that is essentially what homemade chicken soup is, but any time I can use the phrase “I <heart> chicken“, I do.
The ability to make chicken soup is like a right of passage. My grandmothers both made delicious chicken soup and when I was living in LA a couple of years ago, the first thing my mom did when she came out to visit was to make a vat of chicken soup for me to have on hand.
Of all the chicken soups I have ever had, no one’s is better than my mom Patsy’s. Every family meal at my parent’s house begins with a bowl of chicken soup. There are jars of frozen soup in my freezer, my brother and sister-in-law’s freezer, my parents’ freezer, even the freezer at the cottage. You just never know when you may have an emergency on your hands that can only be helped by a bowl of chicken soup.
Chicken soup is more than just a traditional Jewish remedy. Bone broth is actually a superfood, densely packed with vitamins, minerals, fats and proteins in a form that requires no digestive strength from your body to break down. It alkalanizes your system which lends to a healing internal environment and perhaps more important than any of these things- it is warming and comforting.
With the blistery Winter storm upon us, and nuttyness of the holidays, make a batch now, enjoy some today and put the rest in the freezer for a quick, easy, healing, light meal. With permission from my mom, here is her super powered soup recipe with a few additions by me.
Momma Patsy’s Amazing Chicken Soup
1 chicken cut in 8, skin removed. Make sure you get the back. For a more economical version you can ask your butcher for a couple of chicken carcasses. You may want some extra pieces of white meat with the bone for cutting up later and eating with the soup or using for sandwiches
6 large carrots peeled and cut in 1/2 inch pieces
2 parsnips peeled and cut
1 onion cut in 4
1 bunch fresh dill
1 bunch fresh parsley
2 zucchinis sliced
1 whole garlic bulb- cloves peeled
4 celery stalks, sliced in 1 inch pieces
2-3 leeks
1 Tbs apple cider vinegar (optional- helps draw minerals out of the bones)
2 Tbs Coconut Oil (to help absorption of fat soluble vitamins and anti-microbial properties
2 inches, sliced ginger root (anti-inflammatory properties and warming)
8 cups of water or until pot is full
Salt and pepper to taste.
Note: Amount of vegetables depends on how much you can fit in the pot. You can use as much as will fit.
- Put the chicken and/or bones in a pot covered in cold water and bring to a boil (this is to remove and cook away the blood and icky stuff). If using bones leftover for a roast chicken or turkey, you can skip this step.
- Pour out the water, rinse the chicken, clean the pot.
- Put chicken and everything else into the pot including about 8 cups of water, salt and pepper.
- Bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer for at least 2 hours or up to 8. The longer you simmer the soup- the more concentrated the healing benefits. You want the soup to be gelatinous when it is cooled- this gelatin is very soothing to the digestive tract.
- Let it cool down and pour through strainer.
- Remove from strainer any chicken, carrots or other boiled veggies you wish to add back in to your soup
- Place in fridge over night to allow fat to settle on the top
- Skim fat off surface of soup with a spoon and paper towel
- Heat and serve.
[...] first collected Added 19 Dec 08 from meghantelpnerblog.com Flag as inappropriate or [...]
[...] first collected Added 19 Dec 08 from meghantelpnerblog.com Flag as inappropriate or [...]
[...] I (heart) Chicken Soup « Making Love In The Kitchen [...]
meghan! i love you blog!
will be back without a doubt.
soup is my very favourite lunch time meal in the winter and i’ve always wanted to learn how to make my own. i’m going to go round up ALL my pots right now!
[...] go on, cook yourself a whole foods based dinner. Some chicken soup perhaps, or maybe quinoa with some sweet potato and cauliflower. A sweet cookie for dessert perhaps [...]
Hi Meghan,
I am making your soup right now, I am very excited! The raw ingredients smell incredible!
Lulu xxx
Hi
I enjoy your blog and the recipes. I was under the impression you were vegan though?
What are your thoughts on tofu and tempeh? I have been attempting to cut down on my animal consumption and mostly eating a lot of fish, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, and chicken occasionally. But I try to have a vegetarian day or 2 during the week where I might have some tofu or tempeh on that day. But can tofu be okay up to 3-4 days a week? I am unsure of the lesser of two evils: continuing to eat the animal products or substitute some with soy products.
Thanks
Nope. Not vegan. There are many articles on this site that discuss tofu and tempeh. I suggest searching both. Tempeh is a far superior food than tofu and there are many many sources of protein that are soy free. Soy is certainly not your only animal food replacement.