Chicken Soup

It's hard to think of a more nourishing comforting soup than chicken soup. It’s been around for over 1,000’s of years. Almost every culture has their own version of it. Nothing feels better when you are under the weather than a heartwarming bowl of chicken soup. It has simple ingredients, including broth, chicken meat, root vegetables, and seasoning. The beauty is in the simplicity, the flavors of the wholesome ingredients shine through. This recipe will show you how to make homemade chicken soup using a store-bought rotisserie chicken. It takes around 2 hours to make, but it's around half an hour of hands-on time. This I something I make on the weekends when I'm going to be home for a couple of hours.  

Ingredients:

1 rotisserie chicken

1 yellow onion

1 minced clove of garlic

2-3 medium-sized carrots

2 stalks of celery

Chopped bunch of parsley

1 tsp of thyme

2 bay leaves

4 tsp arborio rice

Salt and pepper to taste 

For the broth:

Chicken bones

Carrot 

Celery stalk 

Onion peels 

Salt pepper 

Herbs

Directions:

Remove the skin and discard. Remove the chicken meat from the bones. Place bones in a stock pot.  Shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces and set aside for later. 

Add your aromatics. This is a good way to reuse vegetable scraps. Sometimes I will keep a back of scraps in the freezer to pull out for making broth. Today, I'm using a carrot and a couple of celery stocks. I like to use the leafy stocks in the center of the celery. I'm using the ends and peel from the onion I'm using for the soup. I'm also using a clove of garlic, a couple of bay leaves, peppercorns, and kosher salt. After you have everything added to your pot, add in the water. You want enough water to cover the bones and veggies, around 6 cups. The bones don't have to be completely submerged. It's okay if a few bones are poking out over the top of the water. Cover, and bring to a boil. Then reduce to a simmer.  Let it simmer for 1 - 2 hours. While it's simmering, You can prepare the other ingredients.  

The broth will be ready when the water turns cloudy. Do a quick taste test and add more salt if needed. Most of the time if the broth tastes bland, it needs more salt. Turn off your burner and let it cool slightly. Remove the bones, and aromatics and discard.  

While the broth simmers, chop up the onion, carrots, celery and garlic.  

Heat up some olive oil in a Dutch oven. Add in the onions, carrots, and celery. Sprinkle in some kosher salt. Saute the veggies until they start to get translucent and soft. 

Add the minced garlic to the pot and saute for a few more minutes. 

Add the chopped chicken to the pot. 

Now for the fun part, adding in the broth. Using a pair of tongs, remove the bones and veggies. Place a mesh strainer over the Dutch oven and pour the broth into the pot. The strainer will catch any small pieces of bone or debris that are at the bottom of the stockpot. 

Add your seasoning and the arborio rice to the pot and give it a good stir. Aborio rice is the same rice that's used for risotto. The starch from the rice works as a thickener for the soup. Bring to a boil and turn down to simmer.  Simmer for a half hour to 1 hour. The soup is done when the veggies are tender. 

Serve the soup with a slice of cornbread.  

You can modify the soup by changing up the veggies or the seasonings. Parsnips and leeks are really good in this soup. You can also add in noodles or dumplings. The soup freezes well. It's handy to have a couple of bowls in the freezer to pull out after a long tiring day. 

Enjoy your soup. Leave me a note to let you know how it turned out. Follow Tonight's Table for recipes and meal ideas.