Chicken Soup from the Heart

Submitted by AniSarit

"A relatively easy dish to create, perfect for a cold winter day, or just a big bowl for the kids. In my house, apart from having this every Shabbat, it's also the Jewish Penicillin we rely on. From my house to yours, with love."

 

• Ready In: 3hrs
• Ingredients: 7
• Serves: 12

ingredients

• 680.38 g chicken pieces (combination ofnecks, thighs, and drumsticks, with skin)
• 3 large carrots, cut into thirds
• 2 celery ribs, cut into fifths
• 1 medium yellow onion
• 1 bunch dill, wrapped tightly with any string (I use floss, works great, and never falls apart in the water)
• 118.29 ml instant chicken-style consomme soup and seasoning mix (by Osem, do not substitute)
• cheesecloth

directions

1. Fill large soup pot with cold water.
2. Add cleaned chicken pieces, peeled, whole yellow onion, and dill.
3. Cook on stovetop on a high heat until water just starts to boil.
4. Reduce heat to simmer, but do not cover the pot.
5. The chicken will bring up it's brown foam, remove it as it comes up. You may add more preboiled water to the pot if the amount of water in the pot has been reduced to 3/4, but not more than once.
6. After 1.5 hours of simmering, raise the heat to medium and add the carrots and salt.
7. Slowly add 1/2 cup of Osem Consomme seasoning mix and stir through, to make sure that no seasoning mix is stuck to the bottom of the pot.
8. Reduce heat back to simmer and continue to simmer for an additional 30 minutes.
9. Add the celery and cook for 5-10 minutes more, until the celery is no longer firm, but not yet tender (it will continue to cook even when the heat is turned off).
10. Remove from heat, and cover pot. Let stand 15-20 minutes, until celery just tender.
11. Remove all chicken, carrots, onion, dill, and celery from soup and place in separate container.
12. Transfer soup from the pot through the cheesecloth to a different pot, or container of your choice. Do this slowly, as the soup is still hot, ensuring that all the soup pass through the cheesecloth before being transferred to another pot. You may need another couple of hands to help you hold the cheesecloth over the second pot. This is a crucial step of the recipe, because it ensures that your final product is a clear broth. Also, this is a way to trim the fat, and allows the palate to taste the chicken soup rather than the chicken fat.
13. Discard whatever is left on the cheesecloth.
14. Serve the broth clear with either a carrot and a celery, or, you may add fine noodles or a kreplach for a perfect Jewish Chicken Soup.
15. Enjoy!

Reviews

[Mamas Kitchen Hope]

Great soup! Made this on a cold, rainy day and it really hit the spot! The only thing I changed was I also made some matzo balls to place in the soup. After straining the broth as suggested I added some carrot and onion back in. The chicken was a little done for our taste so I discarded all that rather than reserve some of the meat to put in the soup. That was fine with me. Next time I may add some of the meat into the soup. Thank you so much for a great recipe that warms the heart and soul!

 

[Oolala]

I made a soup just like this but added another onion and a few more pieces of celery and parsnip. Threw in a bay leaf and pepper corns and used 3 tsp. of bouillon but the brand I had. I used the cheesecloth for the first time and I got the clearest soup ever. I did get some fat but not much and I will be able to remove it before serving. Thanks from my heart!