Old Fashioned Chicken Soup From Scratch Food

CLASSIC HOMEMADE CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• Cut up your chicken into pieces (thighs, legs, breasts, etc) and place in a large stock pot.
• Fill with cold water to cover and put on high heat as you assemble the rest of the ingredients.
• Cut up all of your veggies. You can do this any way you like, but I like to leave these in large pieces so they don't get too mushy during the long cooking time.
• You can tie your dill and parsley together if you like.
• Put all the veggies and herbs into the pot.
• Add extra water if needed.
• Bring to a boil, and then let simmer.
• Simmer for 2-4 hours*.
• *The cook time is largely up to you. I like to cook mine for many hours to get all of the flavors out of the chicken, but really, once the chicken is cooked through, you can take it off the fire.
• If you prefer to have smaller pieces of carrots, potatoes, or celery in your soup, dice as much as you want and put it into the pot 30-40 minutes before it's done.
• ***TIP: There will be A LOT of fat on the top of this soup from the chicken skin. Traditionally, you would cook this the day before, refrigerate over night, and then remove the hardened fat layer. Easy as pie. But, if you want it the same day, you will have to skim the fat as the cooking progresses. So watch the soup over the 2-4 hours of cooking and skim as you go.
• Add salt and pepper to taste. (you will need a lot of salt. Don't fret. Start off with a teaspoon. Taste. Add another pinch. Taste. Add. And so on until you reach desired flavor.
• Take all the chicken out of the pot and remove the meat from the bones and skin. Discard the bones and skin. You can replace the meat into the pot or leave it on the side for people to put into their individual bowls.
• Make egg noodles, rice, or dumplings to accompany.
• Eat and enjoy.

OLD FASHIONED CHICKEN SOUP FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Put your chicken into the stock pot and cover with water.
• Add a little salt and bring to a boil. Once it comes to a good rolling boil for a few minutes, lower the heat to between LOW and MEDIUM. Put the lid on and let it cook for about 2 hours on the stove.
• Open the pot and check to see how the chicken is doing. When the meat is more tender and JUST STARTS to come off the chicken it's time for the next step.
• Using tongs or another kitchen tool (I like to use a large roast beef fork) remove the chicken from the pot and set on a cookie sheet or large plate. The only thing that should be left in the pot is the liquid.
• While the chicken cools for a couple minutes so you can work with it easier, skim off some of the fat that's accumulated on the surface of the pot. You don't have to remove it all since it does give the soup a great flavor but if there's a lot you should try to remove some. The amount of fat you have on the top depends on the chicken itself - some are fattier than others.
• Using a fork and knife, remove as much meat as possible from the chicken and drop it into the pot. Do not cut the meat into chunks - let the meat naturally come apart as it continues the cooking process.
• Make sure that you add the leg bones to the pot along with the meat. The bones are extremely important in making the soup taste perfect.
• Once all the meat is removed from the chicken you can discard the unused parts.
• Now add the vegetables, garlic and herbs to the pot.
• Add some water to the pot until the veggies, etc are covered.
• Bring to a rolling boil once more for a couple minutes.
• Lower the heat to about between LOW and MEDIUM, cover and let it cook for 2 more hours.
• Stir the soup a couple times while it cooks.
• At the end of cooking give the soup a taste and add a little more salt and pepper to taste.
• Let it cook for a couple more minutes and remove the leg bones and bay leaves.
• Once done - Enjoy!

OLD FASHIONED CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• Remove skin from chicken legs. Add to large soup pot that has a tight fitting lid. Pour cold water over and add the ground turmeric.
• Prepare soup vegetables. Chop onion, slice celery and carrots, mince garlic, shred cabbage, and dice potatoes. Add to soup pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
• Remove chicken from pot and set aside to cool. Once cool, remove meat from bones. Discard bones, cut meat into bite-size pieces, and add back to soup pot.
• Stir in egg noodles or dry pasta noodle of your choice.
• Season broth with salt, pepper, dried oregano, basil, and sugar. Simmer an additional 15 minutes.
• To serve, garnish with fresh minced parsley.

OLD-FASHIONED CHICKEN STEW

Steps:

• Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken, working in batches and adding more oil as needed, 3 to 5 minutes per batch; set aside.
• Add the celery and onion and cook until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle over the flour and stir, cooking a minute or so. Pour in the stock, season with salt and pepper and add the parsnips, carrots, turnip and rutabaga. Add the chicken back, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook until the vegetables are tender and the chicken is cooked through, about 45 minutes.
• Stir in the heavy cream and parsley. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve garnished with parsley leaves.

GRANDMA'S CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• Clean chicken and remove some, but not all, fat. Place in a 2-quart soup pot with carrots, celery, tomatoes, and onion. Tie all dill sprigs into a bunch with kitchen string; add to the pot with salt and pepper. Add water until chicken is covered by 2 inches.
• Cook over medium-low heat until chicken is just about cooked through, about 3 hours. Remove chicken to a platter and allow to cool slightly, 15 to 20 minutes. Cut meat off the bones, place meat back into the pot, and discard the bones. Cook over medium-low heat until heated through, about 30 minutes longer. Remove dill before serving.

CHICKEN SOUP FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Place the chicken, celery, carrots, onions, parsnip (if using), parsley, peppercorns, bay leaves and salt in a large soup pot and cover with cold water by 1 inch.
• Bring to a boil over high heat, then immediately reduce the heat to very low. Adjust the heat until the soup is "smiling": barely moving on the surface, with an occasional bubble breaking through. Cook uncovered, until the chicken is very tender and falling off the bone, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• When cool enough to handle, use tongs to transfer chicken from the pot to a container. Taste the broth and continue to simmer it until it is concentrated and tasty. Strain broth through a fine sieve (or a colander lined with cheesecloth) into a separate container. Discard all the solids from the strainer (or reserve the vegetables, chill and serve with vinaigrette, if you wish).
• Refrigerate chicken pieces and broth separately for at least 8 hours (or up to 3 days), until a thick layer of yellow fat has risen to the top of the broth.
• When ready to finish the soup, use your fingers to separate chicken breast meat from bones and skin. Discard bones and skin. Use two forks to pull the breast meat apart into soft chunks, or use a knife and cut into bite-size pieces. (Reserve dark meat for another use.)
• Skim chicken fat from top of broth and set aside. Place 3 tablespoons of the fat in a soup pot with a lid. Add leeks, stir to coat, and heat over medium heat until leeks begin to fry. Then reduce the heat to a gentle sizzle and cook, stirring often, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes.
• Add carrots, sprinkle with salt, stir, and cover the pot. Cook until vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes more. (Keep in mind that vegetables will continue to cook in the soup.) Do not brown.
• Pour broth into pot with vegetables and heat to a simmer. Add noodles and simmer until heated through, soft and plumped with chicken broth. Add the breast meat, then taste broth and add salt and pepper to taste. For best flavor, soup should have some golden droplets of fat on top; if needed, add more chicken fat one teaspoon at a time.
• Serve immediately, in a tureen or from the pot, sprinkling each serving with herbs.

GRANDMA'S CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add egg noodles and oil, and boil for 8 minutes, or until tender. Drain, and rinse under cool running water.
• In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, combine broth, salt, and poultry seasoning. Bring to a boil. Stir in celery and onion. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes.
• In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water together until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Gradually add to soup, stirring constantly. Stir in noodles and chicken, and heat through.

OLD-FASHIONED CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP

Steps:

• Combine chicken broth and chicken in heavy large pot. Bring to boil. Reduce heat; cover partially and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Using tongs, transfer chicken to large bowl. Cool chicken and broth slightly. Discard skin and bones from chicken. Cut chicken meat into bite-size pieces and reserve. Spoon fat off top of chicken broth.
• Return broth to simmer. Add onion, carrots and celery. Simmer until vegetables soften, about 8 minutes. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover chicken meat and broth separately and refrigerate. Bring broth to boil before continuing.)
• Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté until beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in lemon juice. Add mushrooms to broth; stir in noodles, herbs, and reserved chicken. Simmer until noodles are tender, about 5 minutes. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper.

OLD FASHIONED CHICKEN SOUP (MADE EASY)

Steps:

• POUR 64 ounces Trader Joe's Organic Free-Range chicken broth into a 4-quart pot; heat to a low gentle boil.
• SNIP 1 tablespoon fresh parsley into broth.
• PULL fresh thyme leaves from stem using thumb and forefinger against the growth direction, to yield about 1 1/2 teaspoons; add to broth.
• ADD 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning to broth, along with two pinches (1/8 teaspoon) ground nutmeg, 2 pinches (1/8 teaspoon) ground savory, 1 bay leaf, and 5 whole black peppercorns (or 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper).
• CHOP 1 large onion into 1/2'' pieces and add to broth; MASH 1 large clove garlic with a garlic press; add to broth.
• MEASURE 1 1/2 cups whole baby carrots; add to broth.
• SLICE rinsed celery into 3/4'' diagonal-cut slices to make 2 cups; add to broth (if fresh mushrooms are desired they may be sliced and added to broth now).
• COVER and simmer broth, vegetables, herbs and seasonings until vegetables are tender yet firm (6 ounces egg noodles may be added now if desired).
• REMOVE skin from rotisserie chicken and meat from bones; coarsely chunk or dice chicken meat into bite-sized pieces to yield 2-3 cups; STIR in chunked chicken until heated; REMOVE bay leaf and peppercorns; SEASON to taste with kosher salt if desired.
• SERVE soup hot in bowls; SAVOR the old-fashioned goodness!