Basic Homemade Chicken Soup

And now – soup…

Well, it’s not as if there is really a recipe for my soup. I mean – I’ll write one, to make it easier, for the actual soup I made last week… but…

I put most of the chicken stock in the freezer (I then used a lot of it in Thanksgiving Dinner.) I put about a quart in a soup pot, and chopped and added an onion, a couple of carrots, half a rutabaga, and some celery, because that’s what I had on hand… and a little more water, because the stock is concentrated, and the vegetables themselves will add flavor. Oh, and some thyme and sage.

Now – I try to always have onions – they add so much to so many dishes. And I usually have carrots around, especially in winter – they are a fresh, inexpensive, incredibly versatile vegetable. I actually still had some fresh celery in the crisper – usually at this time of year I’d be dipping into my freezer supply. Garlic would have been nice, but I didn’t have any. I’d salted the stock – I’d add a bit of salt now if I hadn’t.

Root vegetables in general are great in soup – which is useful since they’re good winter storage vegetables. Turnips, parsnips, rutabagas, celery root… The local farmer’s markets did not carry them until recently – I think they assumed there’d be little demand – but they are starting to turn up now.

We’re lucky, in New York City, to have year round farmer’s markets – I know many places do not. And I am lucky to be in walking distance of Union Square – the biggest – and even closer to another that also runs all year. I know not everyone has this luxury – isn’t it silly that it is a luxury? But we’re not too incredibly cold for an outdoor winter market, here (usually… there are times one wonders…) and the city is large enough that there is enough demand to make it worth the farmer’s while to come, even with limited stock. The vegetables I buy here are available in supermarkets – but parsnips and celery root (aka celeriac) are often priced as luxury items, because there isn’t much demand… and they’re priced the same as other root vegetables here in the farmer’s markets.

So – long way to say, the thing about soup is – you put in what you have. Now, some combinations are so good that you repeat them, and, after a while, you start to think of them as a recipe… and then there is someone who wants “Your Chicken Soup” – and that’s great. But you should never feel that you can’t make it because you don’t have a turnip.  It may not be “Your Favorite Soup” – but it’s probably still pretty good…

All of which reminds me of something I wrote for another venue about six years ago…

Chicken Soup, Two Ways

Method One:

Fill slow cooker with chicken legs with backs. Nothing else. Cook until done. Remove and bone chicken. Pour off and reserve the juices in the pot. Reserve as much meat as wanted for soup, freeze the rest for other uses. Return bones, skin and scraps to the pot, cover with water, add salt and a splash of vinegar. Cook overnight, into the next day.