whats ur secret to AWESOME chicken soup?

pecan

Fri, Aug 21 2009, 5:39 pm

Onion, carrots, parsnip, celery, and sometimes a sweet potato. I cook it for a really long time. I season with a tbsp salt, sprinkle of garlic, and mrs. dash table blend.
It is great. Me, dh, and guests like mine best.
But it's interesting how no two chicken soups taste the same.

realeez

Fri, Aug 21 2009, 5:55 pm

YALT wrote:

I use kosher salt rather than the regular. tastes better in the soup.

Same here - I also like the coarse kosher salt in my cholent. Apparently it has less sodium too!

Imaonwheels ↓

Sat, Aug 22 2009, 3:32 pm

When I was told this I was grossed but it works, the absolute best chicken soup depends on cooking the feet in the soup (but get rid of them before the kids see them). Old Russian ladies in Israel eat them but I give them to the cats outside. They make a big difference.

tomorrow

Sat, Aug 22 2009, 4:08 pm

I let it cook for about 24 hours. After the initial boil, I put it on the lowest flame and leave it alone. Never soup powder. For the chicken part, I use turkey necks, so I guess that makes it turkey soup.

mominisrael2

Sun, Aug 23 2009, 3:17 am

fayge wrote:

To you overnight cookers: how big a pot do you use? How can you be sure it won't burn out? Is it safe to leave the stove on as low as you probably do overnight without anyone awake to check on it occasionally?

I make it in the crockpot, putting all the chicken in a strainer bag, overnight Thursday night, then let everything cool Friday and de-bone the chicken and put it back in the soup before re-warming on Friday afternoon.

Seraph

Sun, Aug 23 2009, 3:52 am

Imaonwheels wrote:

Where do you get chicken feet from in israel? I thought it was illegal to sell them.

cityofgold ↓

Sun, Aug 23 2009, 12:07 pm

I'm always shocked that my chicken soup comes out so good, because I don't really use spices at all. Half of the time, not even salt (and I like a lot of salt).

Whenever I clean chicken, I save all the yucky scraps in a freezer bag.
To make the soup, I fry a large onion or 2 and a few cloves of garlic in enough oil to coat the bottom of the pot. Then, I add the chicken scraps and a few chicken bottoms, and fill it up with water. I boil it for about 6 hours, adding water when necessary.
Then, I strain it through a very fine strainer. Sometimes I pick out the good chicken pieces, sometimes I don't, but after that, it can be frozen and vegetables added weekly.

And for some reason, it just gets better the longer it's frozen!

scb88

Sun, Aug 23 2009, 12:38 pm

I think the real trick is just clean chicken and clean veggies.

I put in:
Sweet Potato
Carrots
Celery
Onions
Zuchinni
Parsnip
Chicken

I boil for a reallllly long time. Then add more water and I keep boiling! I season with salt, a tiny consoume, and a tiny paprika.

I make enough to freeze for 3-4 weeks, and it tastes even better when it's defrosted!

↑ Imaonwheels

Sun, Aug 23 2009, 7:08 pm

I never saw them in the US. This I learned from an old Gruzini woman in the maon olim with me. The chicken in Kfar Chabad used to be delivered by kids fresh wrapped in newspaper with the feet still on them. I freaked as I had only seen chicken pieces in styrofoam before. The old lady cut it up for me and handed me the feet telling me to put them in the soup.

I am sure that even though they have modernized and now sell nationally if I went to their place in Kfar Chabad they would give me the feet. Why would it be illegal. Old Russians eat the feet juust like they suck out beef bones. Many younger ones and Yerushalmim do as well.

mltjm

Sun, Aug 23 2009, 8:04 pm

This may sound counterintuitive, but the best trick I have found by far is to NEVER let the soup actually come to a boil. What I do is put the chicken and water in first, turn the fire up high and as I prep veggies etc to go in, keep an eye on it. Right before it starts to boil, turn it allll the way down to a simmer and keep it at that temp. If I make it on thursday night, I take it off the fire last thing, leave it over night to cool, stick it in the fridge in the morning, skim it later, and put it back on the fire, a little high to warm it up, but then back down to low to simmer. You can really taste the difference!

NotSoNewKallah

Mon, Aug 24 2009, 11:32 pm

cityofgold wrote:

Good idea! Im going to try that...

1. what do you consider the yucky scraps?

2. after you strain it, do you throw out the "big stuff"?

3. what do you freeze it in?

4. how do you defrost it? just let it sit out...

(can you tell how undomesticated I am Wink

)

ESB

Tue, Aug 25 2009, 6:15 am

I use chicken feet all the time. It makes the soup "kreftig". (how do you say that in english)

I just started adding garlic to my soup. Im amazed what a good taste it gives.

happyone

Tue, Aug 25 2009, 6:59 am

I put loads of vegetables and spices.
Cumin adds a great flavor. Also, if you add a beet it will get that rich golden color. When it first cools it will look red. When you reheat it will give you the great color.

BeershevaBubby ↓

Tue, Aug 25 2009, 7:45 am

I save the carcasses when I buy and make whole turkeys. When I have at least 2, I put it in a pot with several onions, sliced in half, carrots with the peel on and other flavorful and inexpensive veggies. I'll also put in a whole bunch of parsnip greens, half a bunch of dill and several cloves of garlic. Season with black pepper and a little salt.

Once the stock has come to a boil, I let it simmer for 5 hours. Then I let it cool and then decant it into 1.5 liter bottles and freeze. I'll break one out when I next make soup.

I make my chicken soup to be a meal. So with the stock, I'll put in a whole, skinned chicken or a bunch of turkey necks. Add a whole bunch of veggies (onions, carrots, sweet potatoes, potatoes, zucchini), 'soup greens' and black pepper and more water... and then either make matzahballs or serve it with cous cous or rice added to the bowl just before serving.

↑ BeershevaBubby

Tue, Aug 25 2009, 7:48 am

NewKallah wrote:

1. I don't consider these yucky, but they make for a more favorable stock - the wings and the neck. And as I said in my own post, the carcass from a whole turkey is also great.

2. When making stock, you tend to cook the heck out of everything, so all the flavor and nutrients gets cooked out into the water. There's no real reason to save the 'big stuff' although if you have a cat or dog, I'm sure they'd love the chicken...

3. I use plastic soda bottles... and I only use it once.

4. I don't always remember to defrost so I simply cut open the bottle and drop the frozen chunk right into the pot.

Health is a Virture ↓

Tue, Aug 25 2009, 8:08 am

fresh spices, lots of chicken, squash, pumpkin, carrots, potatoes, and sweet potato if in season. cook the vegetables for many, many hours. smash them, and then add water if necessary (but not too much)cook fried onions, garlic, fresh spices, chicken etc. the thicker the soup, the better in our opinion, but if you like thin soup, then the more zuchinni you put in the better I presume.

↑ Health is a Virture

Tue, Aug 25 2009, 8:09 am

as for chicken feet, from what I understand in America it is considered illegal to sell because they are very dirty, but here in israel, especially around the yomim tovim, you can find chicken feet in the supermarket (personally, we like necks)