“Chicken Soup – 101”…Blog.
“IMPORTANT” NOTICE: Please read through the entire recipe and procedures for this recipe. It is necessary to have ‘some’ cooking skills and abilities or experience. Safety is “paramount”, because you are handling ‘raw chicken.’ A “thorough washing” and “disaffecting” of all surfaces that have come in contact with ‘raw chicken’… must be completed. This includes your hands. I use an ‘antibacterial’ dish washing soap in my kitchen. Thank you!
This week I made… “Chicken Soup”. I do not like the boxed or canned soup available at your local grocery store. I love to cook and have developed a technique for making tasty and especially healthy meals. Living by myself… I can… choose to be choosey! Sometimes I even get into an argument with… ‘Me & Myself’… about what I am having for dinner. …LOL!
First I shop… for Chickens, only when they are on sale. Last time the sale was so good, I purchased three. I put two in the freezer and cooked the one. In advance of specific meals I have that ‘list’ in my head of what I am going to use. Generally I shop for the fresh and not the canned or dehydrated spices and vegetables.
1. Large Chicken, 4 or more pounds. [if you can find one]
2. One pound of carrots. Immediately soak them underwater for at least an hour.
3. One or Two… Large ‘white’ or ‘yellow’ Onion. If two, use one of each.
4. Garlic, fresh, 4-to-6 cloves [large], select the largest ‘Garlic Bulb’ you can.
5. Spices: any of your choosing. I use no salt or fresh ground pepper… till later.
6. Accent: Monosodium Glutamate. [optional, but I always use it]
7. Pasta noodles = your favorite type.
8. Preparation and Cooking time… minimum 6-hours plus one hour the next day.
2. One pound of carrots. Immediately soak them underwater for at least an hour.
3. One or Two… Large ‘white’ or ‘yellow’ Onion. If two, use one of each.
4. Garlic, fresh, 4-to-6 cloves [large], select the largest ‘Garlic Bulb’ you can.
5. Spices: any of your choosing. I use no salt or fresh ground pepper… till later.
6. Accent: Monosodium Glutamate. [optional, but I always use it]
7. Pasta noodles = your favorite type.
8. Preparation and Cooking time… minimum 6-hours plus one hour the next day.
I use a deep 6 Quart… pot. Take your carrots that have been soaking in water and rinse them in running water. This soak in water will ‘rehydrate’ the carrots which did not come out of the ground ‘today’. I cut off both ends and split them… ‘Long ways’… and put them in the bottom of the pot. I do the same with the onions, garlic and the spices [of your choosing].
Take the Largest Chicken... you can find, four pound or more chicken or even a ‘Roaster Hen’… if they are on sale. I cut the chicken apart, separating the wings and keeping them whole. I then separate [cut] the ‘leg & thighs’ from the body. I separate them, ‘removing’ the skin from each. Then I slice into the dark meat so that it will leach out the juices during cooking.
I cut the back… off from the breast, with a knife or bone shears. I leave the skin on the back. I ‘remove all the skin’, that covers the Breast. Then it is sliced off from the breast as a whole piece of chicken. I cut all that flesh into “¼-1/2” pieces and strips. The remaining of the breast [bones] goes into the pot. I have previously removed the package containing: the neck and heart, gizzard and liver. I put the neck into the stock pot, but fry and eat the heart, gizzard and liver and consume it for lunch. Dispose of all the remaining Chicken Skin and FAT!
I fill the pot… with water, to about a half an inch from the top. The pot is turned to “HIGH”… till it comes to a ‘rapid’ boil. “USE A COVER”… on the pot and then reduce the heat to low, just to keep it boiling very slowly. I do mine for a total of ‘6-hours’. This procedure allows for ‘all the juices’ from the chicken and vegetables to leach out into the broth. After the first two hours, you stir up the mix, breaking up all the pieces that are still stuck together. Then do again in two more hours.
This slow boil… ensures that all the nutrients and flavors have passed into the liquid. Each two hours, add more hot water ‘if needed’ to ensure a full pot of liquid. Microwave a cup of water, ‘if’ you need to add more liquid and then add to the pot. Ensure that the pot stays covered but tilted a little to let the vapors escape. This cooking process ensures that what solids, you have left in the pot will be void of any of their juices. Turn off the heat 15-minutes before the end of this cooking time.
At the end… of this ‘6-hours’ cooking time, remove the lid. I take a frying pan and place it under a… “Colander”… with which I will use, to drain the solids, from the liquid. You are separating the “LIQUID”… from the solids that have… ‘Nothing’ left in them. I take a large slotted spoon and remove all the chicken pieces and vegetables. Usually they are so dissolved that they are not good for anything. WARNING: There may be bone fragments in the solids which may be harmful to human consumption.
When this is complete… I take the liquid that has drained from the ‘Colander’, into the frying pan underneath and pour it back into the stock pot. You now have about 4-quarts of… “Pure Chicken Stock Juice”… suitable for use as ‘stock or soup’. Now… you have “To Cover” this pot and cool it. Keep this pot… “Covered”… and ‘No Not Peek!’ I usually do this in the bottom of my kitchen sink, filled half full with cold water. I change the water every half hour… ‘Three Times’… till the stock pot is cool to the touch. Then I refrigerate the entire ‘Covered Pot and Liquid’… “Overnight!”… Without Peeing Inside!
In the morning… of the next day, you will find a small layer of ‘Chicken Fat’ of the surface of the stock. I only remove about… ‘Half’… of this fat as some is needed to flavor this broth. You will notice that the STOCK… is the consistency of ‘Jell-O!’ This is so because the chicken protein complexes, have leached out of the chicken and vegetables… into this broth liquid.
I first select… the kind of pasta I want to use. I often use the Shells, Fusilli, Rotini, and even Elbows sometimes small and sometimes large. This choice is up to you. Now before you go any further, I have to tell you this. I “Do Not”… boil my pasta separately… and then add it into the broth. I boil it… “In the ‘Broth!” This way, it adsorbs ‘into’ the pasta and the little bit of starch from the pasta… adds to the consistency of the soup. The pasta is… ‘Not to Exceed’… One pound.
Bring the pot to a rapid boil… and then add in the Pasta of your choice! Cook this pasta for Six Minutes… and then immediately turn off the heat and cover. Set a timer for… ‘from 45-minutes to one hour’. I usually stir the cooking pasta three times only during the boil and then one last time before the “Final Covering!” “DO NOT… under any circumstances open the Lid… and “Peek”, during the… ‘45-m to one hour!’
These pasta noodles… of your choosing, will “Swell UP”… to twice or more their dried size. This is because they have… “Adsorbed the Broth!” Serve to your guests and place the remaining noodles and broth into plastic bowls with lids and refrigerate for later consumption. Season, to your liking, with salt and fresh ‘ground’ pepper. I always “TASTE FIRST”… and then add the salt and pepper.
For a mixture… that has ‘more broth and less pasta’… simply add only a… ‘Half Pound of Pasta’… instead of a full pound. Sometimes I like more liquid and do this. This is how… I will do my Chicken Soup this week. Of course “As Always”… please take this recipe… and doctor it to your specific likes and preferences. “As always”, you may disseminate [share] this recipe and call it your own. I do not need credit for something I do… “Only by the Grace and Gifts of God…!”
(1Corinthians 14:40) Let = all things = be done = decently = and = in order.
(John 3:27) And = John answered = and said, = A man = can receive = nothing = unless = it is given = to him = from Heaven.
(Jeremiah 12:5) If = you have run = with footmen, = and = they wore you out, = then = how can you compete = with horses? = And = if you feel secure = in the land of peace, = then = how will you do = in the swelling of the Jordan?
(Isaiah 28:13) But the Word of Jehovah was to them precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken and snared and taken.
Thank you for Your EAR! Roger //Email// atruth459@yahoo.com
Home Page: http://truth459.blogspot.com/
Ende…!
(John 3:27) And = John answered = and said, = A man = can receive = nothing = unless = it is given = to him = from Heaven.
(Jeremiah 12:5) If = you have run = with footmen, = and = they wore you out, = then = how can you compete = with horses? = And = if you feel secure = in the land of peace, = then = how will you do = in the swelling of the Jordan?
(Isaiah 28:13) But the Word of Jehovah was to them precept on precept, precept on precept; line on line, line on line; here a little, there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken and snared and taken.
Thank you for Your EAR! Roger //Email// atruth459@yahoo.com
Home Page: http://truth459.blogspot.com/
Ende…!
