Jewish Penicillin Aka Chicken Soup Recipes

MATZO BALL SOUP - CHICKEN SOUP WITH 3 MATZO BALL RECIPES

Steps:

• This recipe focuses on the chicken soup that is served together with the matzo balls. You'll want to make the matzo balls separately, then serve this soup together with the matzo balls. I recommend one of these three recipes for the matzo balls - floaters, sinkers, or gluten free. I've been super specific with the instructions here, but once you've made this soup a time or two, you'll see that this whole process is very flexible. Making chicken soup "your own" is part of the fun, so use whatever process and ingredients work best for you!
• I typically add celery and onion as the main vegetables when cooking my soup stock, though you can add carrots too. I prefer adding carrots at the end of cooking, to avoid the stock becoming overly sweet - we prefer a more savory broth. I highly recommend putting in fresh vegetables after the chicken stock is cooked; they'll be much more flavorful that way (otherwise they tend to be mushy and boring). For the first pound of celery, cut it into large 1-inch chunks (you can include any celery leaves as well).
• The rest of the celery and the carrots (which will end up in the finished soup that is served) should be sliced no thicker than 1/2 inch, with larger stalks and carrots halved lengthwise before cutting into chunks. The uniform size will ensure the pieces cook quickly and evenly. Reserve. (By the way, these veggies are optional - some people like their chicken soup without any vegetables.)
• If using saffron, crush the saffron threads in a mortar and pestle until pulverized to powder. Note: saffron adds a depth of flavor and a deep golden color to the broth, but true saffron (the only kind with flavor) is very pricey. It's got a very nice, but distinctive, essence, so don't add it unless you know you enjoy it. The soup will be delicious with or without it.
• Remove the root end of the onion (it can sometimes be a bit dirty), then slice the whole onion into two halves. Leave the skin on, but make sure it is rinsed clean.
• If using a whole chicken, make sure any gizzards that might be hidden inside are removed (they'll make the stock murky and cloudy). Place the chicken into a 10 quart or larger stock pot. Cover with 5 quarts (20 cups) of water.
• Bring water to a boil over medium high heat. Let the chicken simmer for 10-15 minutes, skimming the foam and particles that rise to the surface of the water periodically, until most of the foam is gone.
• Replenish the liquid that was removed during scumming with hot water (it's usually around 1-2 cups).
• Do a final skimming to remove any leftover foam. Add the first pound of celery (the larger pieces), onion, parsley (unchopped), 2/3 of the dill (unchopped), peppercorns, cloves, and bay leaves to the pot. Add 1 tbsp kosher salt to the water (if you're salt sensitive or using a kosher salted bird, you may wish to salt less). Bring back to a simmer. From this point on, it's important not to let the soup come to a rolling boil. A slow and even simmer is best - if the soup boils quickly, the broth may become cloudy.
• If you are adding the saffron, add it to the pot now. Spoon a little of the hot water from the pot into the mortar, stir, then pour it out to make sure you get every bit of saffron into the pot.
• Put the lid on the pot and vent it. Reduce heat to medium low so the soup is slowly simmering. Let the soup cook for roughly 90 minutes.
• Test for doneness by pulling the leg from the chicken. It should easily separate, showing that the chicken has become quite tender. If not using a whole chicken, stick a fork into one of the dark meat pieces to see if it flakes tenderly. When chicken is ready, turn off the heat. Use a pair of tongs to carefully pull the chicken from the broth (it may fall apart into pieces as you pull it out - that's a good sign!). Put it on a plate or in a bowl.
• Allow the chicken and the broth to cool down for 20-30 minutes, until the pot handles are cool enough to touch and lift. Carefully strain the broth into another pot or large bowl (6 quart) through a mesh strainer. Discard the celery and onion (which will be very mushy and flavorless at this point), spices, herbs, and onion halves. If you used a bowl here, clean the pot and add the strained stock back to the pot again - it will need to cook a little longer.
• Note: When the soup is completely cool, you can skim the fat from the top of the broth if you want to-- it will come off in a gel-like layer (this is the "schmaltz"). I actually don't like to skim the fat; those droplets on the surface make the broth silky and give it flavor.
• Pull the meat from the chicken bones into bite-sized pieces.
• Now is the time to add the reserved fresh sliced veggies to the pot (1 pound celery, 1 pound carrots). Bring the broth to a simmer - not a boil - and let the vegetables cook for 20-30 minutes until tender. (If you're not adding additional veggies, just skip ahead to the next step).
• Remove stems from the remaining fresh dill and chop it up.
• Stir the cooked chicken pieces and the dill into the soup with the vegetables, and simmer for a couple of minutes more. Taste the chicken broth and season with additional salt, if desired.
• I generally cook my matzo balls in homemade chicken stock in a separate pot. Technically you can cook matzo balls (or kreplach or noodles or whatever) directly in the soup broth, but it will soak up a lot of the yummy stock, leaving you with very little broth for serving. If you prefer to cook your starch of choice directly in the soup, do so before you add the reserved vegetables and chicken pieces - just know you'll be left with very little broth for serving.
• Serve individual portions of soup ladled over the matzo balls. I usually add about 1.5 cups of soup per bowl, and 2 matzo balls per serving (depending on the size of the matzo balls).

JEWISH CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• The day before you want to serve the soup, put the whole chicken and any extra bones in your largest lidded pan.
• Halve the onions through the roots (leaving the skins on - they will add colour) and add to the pan with the remaining ingredients plus 2 tsp of salt. Add enough cold water to cover.
• Bring the soup to a boil over a high heat, skimming off (and discarding) any foam with a big metal spoon. As soon as the water boils, turn the heat down to a very low simmer. Partially cover the pan and leave to cook gently for 1 hour 30 minutes, until the meat is falling off the bones.
• Remove the chicken from the pot but continue to simmer the broth. Strip the meat from the bones, tearing some of the chicken into pieces to serve in the soup - save the rest to use in salads, sandwiches or pies.
• Return the bones and cartilage to the pot and simmer gently for a further 1 hour-1 hour 30 minutes. Strain the soup into a large container or pan, discarding the vegetables and bones. Leave to cool completely then refrigerate overnight.
• By morning, the fat will have risen to the surface - skim it off and refrigerate it. It can be used for fabulous roast potatoes and to make the matzo balls.
• To make the matzo balls, use electric beaters to whisk the eggs with ½ tsp of salt and a few grinds of pepper until thick and creamy. Beat in the schmaltz - the mixture should now be light and foamy.
• Mix the 60ml of chicken soup and matzo meal, and fold into the egg mixture - it will be very sloppy. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight to hydrate the matzo meal and firm it up enough to be easy to handle.
• Scoop tennis-table-ball-sized amounts from the mixture and, with moistened hands, gently roll into balls. Put them on a plate.
• Fill a large, shallow pan with water and add the chicken soup powder. Bring the water to a boil and gently lower in the matzo balls. Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, cover with a lid and cook for 30 minutes - they will puff up nicely.
• In the meantime, check the soup for seasoning - it may need more salt - add some of the reserved chicken to the pot, and heat it up.
• When the matzo balls are ready, carefully remove them from the pot with a slotted spoon and place two or three in each bowl. Add the hot chicken and soup. Sprinkle with the chopped parsley leaves.

JEWISH PENICILLIN (AKA: CHICKEN SOUP)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375º.
• Place a vertical roaster in an 8¼" x 8¼" x 2½" square glass baking dish.
• Clean the chicken "innards" and place in a 1-quart pot with 2 cups water, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce, 1 tablespoon Teriyaki Sauce, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon ground pepper. Cover and cook on lowest possible flame for 1 hour.
• Place chicken on vertical roaster.
• In the glass baking dish, pour 1 cup water and the remaining Worcestershire and Teriyaki.
• Cook until wings are VERY dark, but not burned (about 40 minutes); basting every 7 - 10 minutes.
• In an 8-quart pot, place remaining water, salt, pepper, celery, carrots, onion, garlic and shallot and set on high heat.
• When chicken is done, set aside to cool.
• When the innards are done, add the broth to the main pot. If you like innards, enjoy them; if not, discard them (or send them to me).
• When chicken is cool enough to work with, remove the skin and set aside.
• Remove all the meat from the bone, and cut into bite-sized pieces.
• Set the bones aside.
• Add chicken to the "broth", and reduce to medium-low heat.
• Wrap the skin and bones in cheesecloth, tying the cheesecloth as you would a tourniquet; basically bring all four corners together and tie.
• Place skin and bones in broth and simmer for 3 hours, keeping an eye on the level in the pot. Add water as needed.
• Remove skin and bone cheesecloth and discard (cheesecloth can be washed and reused if desired).
• If you want to use Homemade Chicken Broth in the future, save what you don't use, chill and skim. Alton Brown would be proud.
• This is not Campbell's soup, but then Mr. Campbell didn't grow up with a Jewish grandmother.
• I do hope you enjoy it. Please do me the honor of rating it.