Chicken Soup to cure the common cold and winter blues!

The saying goes that chicken soup is the Jewish elixir that can cure the common cold, and who knows if it may help the new vaccines. (Just kidding on the last one.) 

I get asked fairly often how I make chicken soup.  The recipe started years ago from a recipe on the Empire Kosher Chicken Website.  It has since evolved and been updated from experience and watching cooking shows/

To the left is my latest batch, and I will take you all through it step by step.  

If you have access to kosher chickens, I would recommend them.  The koshering process, which is salting the chicken, actually adds flavor and helps the chicken meat hold up, so it is flavorful in the soup being served.  If you choose to use kosher chickens, you can skip the first step below.  

This recipe is for two chickens. If you have less or more, adjust accordingly.

Step 1: Brine the chicken.  For each chicken, select a pot big enough to hold the chicken and enough water to cover the chicken.  Pour in enough water and add enough salt, so the water is quite salty.  Then make sure there is nothing (such as liver or gizzard) in the cavity, and if so, take it out!  Put the chicken in the water and should be covered by water and leave to soak for an hour.

Step 2: Prepare the vegetables while the chicken is in the brine.  Cut up 9 large peeled carrots,  4 stalks of celery, and two large peeled parsnips.  Cut all vegetables into large pieces.  The thicker carrots hold their own better in the cooking process and will be sliced thinner at the end of cooking.

Step  3: Take two onions the size that will fit into the cavity and wash them, but don't peel them.  The unpeeled onions will add flavor and the skins add some color to the broth as well.  (If you want a variation, you can also add a half or whole lemon to the cavity as well.)

Step 4: Prepare the fresh herbs.  Most stores have a poultry mix of fresh herbs in the produce section, including rosemary, sage, and thyme.  I used most of the thyme and sage but went easier on the rosemary.

I put the thyme, chopped up sage and rosemary, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a porter and pestle and ground them together.  Then added pepper to tastes and stirred up.

Take the chickens out of the brine, rinse and dry them off.  

I then take the mixture, start by adding about a third into the chicken's cavity, and then rub the rest on the chicken's outside. Then insert the onions into the cavity.

Step 5: Add about a third of the veggies to the bottom of the pot.  Then add the two chickens and the rest of the veggies.  Then add enough water to cover the chickens.

Step 6: Put the pot on the stove and bring to a boil.  Skim off any of the foam that comes to the top.    Then turn down to just above a simmer and leave on the stove for three hours.  

Step 7: Take the carrots out and set them aside.  Then take out the celery, parsnips, and onions and throw them away.  Take off the chicken from the bones and throw the bones and chicken skin out. 

Step 8: Take a large strainer and over a large enough bowl t and pour the soup in to strain out what is left of the herbs and any other bits missed.  Wash the strainer, and pour the soup through the strainer one more time. 

Step 8:  Slice up the cooked carrots and add them back into the soup.  The chicken is delicious and can be added back into the soup or used for chicken salad or other recipes.

I take the pot with the soup, cover it up, store it in the fridge overnight, allow some of the chicken fat to come to the top to be skimmed off in the morning, and then split up for dinner freezer.