Baba's Chicken Soup

Last week my daughter, The Truffle, rang from work saying she was feeling poorly with a stubborn cold that had nagged her for most of the week.  With a little encouragement from her mother, the naturopath, she agreed it would be best to stay home the next day to give it a chance to clear over the weekend.  I decided I would lend a hand by preparing some soup for the next day for her lunch and make enough for leftovers for dinner for her and her hubby Long_mach.

One of nature’s best food remedies for anyone unwell with cold and flu symptoms is; Jewish Penicillin commonly known as chicken soup. Ideally, the chicken stock is not made from processed stock powder but made the way the grandma would have made it – with love and using fresh preferably organic or at least free range chicken, with selected vegetables. For my magic master stock, I employ a two part process: firstly lightly simmering the whole chicken and vegetables, followed by straining the stock and letting it set overnight in the fridge allowing any fat to set on top – to be removed before adding to the fresh soup ingredients.

Master Stock Ingredients

1 Whole organic or free range chicken

2 Carrots

4/5 Celery stalks with some leaves left on

2/3 Sprigs parsley

2 Brown onions

2 Long red chilies

4 cm Piece ginger

2 Cloves garlic

2 Bay leaves

1 tsp Sea salt and several pepper corns

Wash the whole chicken and place it in a large stockpot with all the remaining ingredients. Fill the stockpot with water to just cover the chicken and vegetables. Bring the stock to the boil and turn down the heat to a gentle simmer. Simmer for 1 to 1 ½ hours. Remove the chicken and set aside to cool. Strain the stock through a clean tea towel or muslin. Discard all the vegetables. Once chicken and stock is cooled store them separately in the fridge overnight.  Next day remove any fat from the top of the stock. Remove the skin from the chicken and shred the meat from the bones to be added to the soup. I usually save the legs for sandwiches or add into a fried rice dish. The white meat is finely shredded or diced for the soup.

Soup Ingredients

2 cups Onions diced

2 cups Carrots diced

2 cups Celery diced

1/1 ½ Litres chicken stock

1 cup rice or risoni

2 cups chicken diced or shredded

½ cup finely chopped parsley

1tsp Extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt and ground pepper season to taste

Gently sauté the trinity of onions, carrots and celery for approximately 4-5 minutes. Add about 1 – 1 ½ litres of chicken stock. Bring to the boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the rice or risoni and ¼ cup of parsley simmer for 15 minutes. Then add the diced chicken for several minutes to heat through. Season to taste and serve garnished with the remaining parsley.