RCP: Chicken Soup - the healing food

Cindy came down with a nasty cold and cough on Saturday. Nothing serious, but just an overall feeling of misery. I'm sure we've all been there.
So Sunday I made some chicken soup, and the patient seems to be improving already. Since we have an upcoming wine dinner at Ballard Inn this Saturday night, featuring Palmina wines, it behooves me to get her healthy, and fast.

Here's what I did to make my Healing Chicken Soup

First, I took a chicken. D'oh. Gave the little guy a bath in the sink, then threw him in a big pot and covered him with water. I brought the pot to a simmer, and skimmed off the foam and scum that formed on top.
Then, into the pot, to keep the chicken company, went:
3 carrots, unpeeled and roughly chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 turnip, peeled and chopped
1 half a parsnip, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, whole
1 onion, unpeeled and chopped
a handful of Italian parsley and a handful black peppercorns, wrapped in cheesecloth
salt to taste
enough fresh tomato puree to color the soup lightly

I let it simmer for about an hour, maybe an hour and a half, then I fished the bird out while allowing the soup to continue to cook for another half hour or so.
I cut up the chicken into 8 pieces and pulled apart the breast meat and added it to the meat pulled from the body.

I then strained the broth and added the vegetables to a blender along with some broth, and pureed them. Back into the pot they went, that thickened the broth nicely. I took some of the thickened broth and cooked some rice in it. I reheated the pulled chicken in some more broth.

Finally, I put a dollop of rice in a big bowl, added the chicken, then finally, filled the bowl with the thick broth.
Grated some pecorino romano over the top, and viola, dinner.

The reason I cooked the rice and heated the chicken separately is that the pot of broth was a big one, and the rice and chicken would get lost in it. This way, I control the ratios, and I'm left with a nice amount of leftover, pure broth which I can use for other things if necessary. Yesterday, Cindy just filled mugs with the heated broth and drank it like coffee.

I'm not kidding, it really seems to have alleviated her symptoms.
I thought it was pretty good, too.

Anyway, I'm putting this up as a public service, because it's cold season and maybe others can benefit from this miracle food.

I do things a little bit different. I cook the chicken in just enough water to cover, with nothing else added. When the chicken is cooked, but not falling apart, remove it from the water to cool and add celery, carrots, onions and pepper (no salt) to the cooking water. I then remove the meat from the chicken, dice it up and add to the pot. I then put the skin and bones in a smaller pot, cover with water and add enough salt for the whole big pot. I boil this for at least 30 minutes, to extract all the flavor from the skin and bones, and strain this into the soup pot. I then add whatever else I want to add (veggies, rice, noodles, etc.)

[Jenise]

Cindy came down with a nasty cold and cough on Saturday. Nothing serious, but just an overall feeling of misery. I'm sure we've all been there. So Sunday I made some chicken soup, and the patient seems to be improving already.

You are a wonderful husband! Like your technique, and am liking the idea of parsnips in the soup, a vegetable I've never added. If I have a sweet potato around (er, yam) I will add that--something I learned from this forum. It adds a richer taste, almost like a roasted flavor (even though it went in raw), and I'll bet a parsnip would achieve a similar complexity. I'll try it soon!

And you are so right about the healing properties. In fact, I am now craving chicken soup and I'm not even sick--it's one of my favorite foods in the world and one I just have to make for myself every so often.

Sounds delicious John...and like Jenise, I love the addition of the root veggies! My goal is to not get sick this yr, so maybe I'll make this as a preventive measure. Thanks for sharing (my kiddos would love this too!).

My goal is to not get sick this yr,

Well, then you MUST follow Covert's advice; i.e. Don't pick your nose, and don't rub your eyes. Not that a nice girl like you would be caught picking her nose, but still.....
That seems to be the way the nasties gain entrance in order to do their dirty work.

John, that sounds really, really good. I never thought to puree the vegetables to thicken the broth. I'm looking forward to trying your method. Agree with Jenise. You are a good husband, even if your caretaking was a little self serving.

I agree, John, you are a good husband. And Cindy deserves to be pampered!

How nice! She makes you bagels, you make her chicken soup. Great to see a couple who take care of each other, congratulations, you're a rarity in this day and age.

Cool soup recipe, John! The Chinese do a chicken rice porridge which has curative powers..

My goal is to not get sick this yr,

Well, then you MUST follow Covert's advice; i.e. Don't pick your nose, and don't rub your eyes. Not that a nice girl like you would be caught picking her nose, but still.....
That seems to be the way the nasties gain entrance in order to do their dirty work.

Nice John! Not much of a nose picker, LMBO,...but do have 2 small children coughing and sneezing on me...so sometimes it's impossible to avoid.

Nice John! Not much of a nose picker, LMBO,...but do have 2 small children coughing and sneezing on me...so sometimes it's impossible to avoid.

Maria,
Speaking as someone who's got a wife and 4-year-old down with colds at the moment, I can tell you that it's not impossible to avoid. You must be obsessive/compulsive about washing your hands, not ever touching your face and changing your shirt if you get sneezed on. It also helps to wash surfaces like doorknobs and countertops. The other precaution is to avoid sharing bed linens with anyone with a cold. So far, I've avoided getting this one despite wiping my son's nose and throwing away his discarded tissues for days now.

Mark Lipton

I just made some duck soup. The ducks were from a chinese market so they had heads and feet on. I didn't boil the whole ducks. I didn't have the nerve to use the heads, I threw them out. I boiled the necks, feet, and bones and carcasses from having roasted the ducks.

The feet made the soup so rich tasting! I wish I could get chicken feet for making chicken soup.

The other precaution is to avoid sharing bed linens with anyone with a cold.

Wow, Jean sure is nice to you. Either that, or you are a PITA when you're ill and it's pure self-interest on her part!

The other precaution is to avoid sharing bed linens with anyone with a cold.

Wow, Jean sure is nice to you. Either that, or you are a PITA when you're ill and it's pure self-interest on her part!

Hey, I never said that I followed my advice. We are scrupulous about not sharing pillows, though!

Mark Lipton

p.s. You gotta stick around chat for more than 10 minutes, Princess. Andrew doesn't hit the hay until 10.

I always use cut up chicken, as I want as much exposure to the flavorful bones. Occasionally, I use extra backs.

For ingredients, I like to add half a leek. In the satchel, I put a bay leaf and thyme sprigs, in addition to your ingredients. It comes out tasting like Jewish chicken soup, as it should.

I love a parsnip in chicken soup, too! I'm thinking now that the humidity is abating (it's only 85, but humidity is gone...It's practically refreshing when we walk outside now..) it may actually be reasonable to make some chicken soup...

b