Super Easy Chicken Soup

[Niki Rothman]

My hat is off to my mom, who at 88 volunteers making soup for sick people. She packs it up in pint sized plastic containers and her synagogue collects the soup and distributes it.

Often I crave chicken soup but just don't feel like going to all the trouble of boning the bird and skimming the fat, etc. Her recipe makes it super fast and easy - and really, very good.

Chop plenty of carrot, celery - including leaves, onion and garlic. Simmer for about 20 minutes in water to which you've added Better Than Bullion chicken base to taste. Meanwhile, using a scissors, remove the fat from boneless skinless chicken thighs (Trader Joe's frozen in the bag are excellent - you just take what you need and re-seal the bag). Cut the meat into 1/2" dice. When the veg. are done, raise the temp to a rolling boil, add the meat, stir, cover and turn off the heat completely - leave it covered for about a half hour. With this method the meat cooks through but remains very tender - much more tender than what you could get any other way.

While the soup cooks make your egg noodles or rice separately and pack them in the fridge separately from the soup to prevent sogginess.

[pilotgirl210]

Sounds great, Niki. I'll be giving this one a try. Thanx for sharing!

[Fida]

I hesitate to say this, because I'm not a particularly skillful cook, so I'm shy about responding to people who are - but this "easy" recipe involves a surprising amount of work. If the soup is just for you, why does everything have to be cut up? Besides, the vegetables would get too mushy. I just throw everything into the pot (and I would never in a million years bone the chicken) and then go off and do something else until it's ready.

[Niki Rothman]

Do you put in whole veg? You'll have to explain that to me. Sounds awkward. And how do you deal with all the fat from a whole bird?
i love not having to skim it. and thighs are the most flavorful/tender part of the bird. Do you have a Cuisinart - it takes about one minute to slice the veg. I timed this - my metod is a total of 10 minutes total for the prep and when done (20 minutes versus one hour for cooking a whole bird) - it's ready to ladle into cotainers for freezing. Then, whenever you want homemade soup ultra-pronto, just take out one of the containers.

[Fog City Kid]

Picky, picky...

[dkd]

valid point...and chix base? ughh, sorry.

[lynn]

but it's great stuff. use it all the time. also love swanson's roasted garlic chicken broth.

[Niki Rothman]

Better Than Bullion is sold at Trader Joe's - they are super careful about having no weird ingrdients like dyes and preservatives. Most bullions have no meat in them. Better Than Bullion is a revelation if you've never used it. For example - their turkey base (it's like a jam) tastes just like roast turkey and the chicken base when diluted tastes just like homemade broth to me. It's way beyond even Swansons, which unlike bullion cubes, is made from the meat. But Swanson does not taste chickeny to me - even my "picky" Jewish mom loves BTB.

[gus]

My method for chicken soup is this (learnt it from my Russian best friend, who used to cook this after school in Kazakhstan):

Take 2 large chicken legs [and a bay leaf -- my addition] and put them in a heavy-bottomed pot. Pour in filtered water and bring to a boil, skimming any foam that comes to the top; then cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

While chicken is simmering, chop up any vegetables you have at hand: 2 stalks celery, 1 large carrot, 1 zucchini, 1 or 2 potatoes (or 1/2 small celery root, 1-2 parsnips, or 3-4 Jerusalem artichokes -- these are sooo good) and maybe some Swiss chard, although this is fairly sour and must be added 10 minutes before finishing cooking. If you have access to fresh parsley, chives, and dill (the holy trinity of my friend's garden cooking), chop them at this time too.

Take lid off soup, skim surface, and add the vegetables. Return lid and simmer another 30 minutes, or until potatoes and carrots are tender. Remove chicken legs with tongs or two spoons, strip meat from bones, and add back to soup. Add chopped fresh herbs and enjoy! [At this point, you can also add egg noodles -- I like to cook them in the soup, because they tend to add a silky starchiness. You could omit the above potatoes if you want to use noodles.]

I don't skim the fat from this soup. I think it's more satisfying that way.

P.S. I can also post a recipe for a chicken soup recipe from my Filipina friend, Tina -- it's very different, with a base of browned garlic, ginger, and chicken, the addition of broccoli, and spiced with cilantro and peppercorns.

[gus]

Oh, I should add that this is a very clean-tasting, simple soup. It's not very salty (in fact, I forgot to mention that you should add a Tbs of salt or so when you add the vegetables!) and may not make your taste buds "pop." However, it is the most comforting soup I know, and because it's so inexpensive -- chicken legs are cheap! -- I make it every week.

[Mott]

Thanks for the recipe, and yes, please post the filipino recipe too!

[Niki Rothman]

Thanks! This is the FIRST recipe from Kazakhstan I have ever seen! And coincidentally, just this morning there was a feature article about K-stan in the NY Times. I'll admit I've been very curious since seeing Ali G's hilarious routine about it on HBO. But, I digress. Please do post your friend's Philipino chix soup recipe - it sounds interesting! And I'm also interested in your saying how delicious Jerusalem artichokes are. I have never tasted them - I just do not see them in the Asian/Mexican produce stores where I shop. But when I do - watch out. Any other ideas on how to prepare them that you really like besides in chix soup?

[Tracy L.]

That is very easy. I appreciate your sharing your mother's recipe. My version is similar, bear in mind I am not a fan of boiled chicken. I make a veggie stock with chicken boullion just like you do but I sear boneless/ skinless chicken breasts or thighs then roast in the oven. After it has roasted I take the chicken out of the roasting pan and let cool. I deglaze the pan with some of the chicken stock I made and then put that back in with the stock and veggies. Before serving I roughly cut up the chicken and put it in the soup bowls and ladle the soup over it.

A light chicken soup in the summer is nice because there are so many wonderful herbs and veggies you can use.

[Niki Rothman]

For those who don't want to read that much, the main points are: If you want fool proof tender chicken meat - cut it up into bite size pieces with a scissors, add it to a pot of boiling broth, or water, turn off the heat immediately and cover. Come back in a half hour - you will never ever get tough dry meat. Then you can use that meat any way you want.
In this case I made soup, but I could have used the meat for a million other things just as easily.

Boneless frozen chicken thighs from Trader Joe's are a wonderful product. Thighs are the most flavorful, tender part of the bird. You can easily remove all the fat with a scissors - saving you having to do all the annoying fat skimming after the soup is done cooking.

Sometimes I discover something important that I want to share from my spiritual quest to find the easiest way to prepare those classic dishes that I sometimes deeply NEED but that I am sometimes too tired, depressed...whatever, to go to all the trouble to make from scratch. Recently I've posted lasagna (Barilla no-boil pasta sheets rock!)and turkey dinner recipes that had very little work and were super delicious. But I want to use only fresh ingredients (Better Than Bullion is a notable exception).

This chicken soup recipe falls in that category. I routinely make classic Jewish chicken soup with matzoh balls, picking the chicken meat off the bones, skimming the fat (actually there's a trick for doing that super-easily involving laying down and quickly snatching out paper towels) - but it takes me a couple of hours. I always felt using the whole bird and long cooking were key. Not so. If you just use the boneless thighs and add Better Than Bullion - you can get a broth that is very rich.