You Don't Have to Be Jewish to Make Great Chicken Soup

With flu season already here, it's time to start thinking about chicken soup. 

Years ago I gave up worrying and began accepting that my chicken soup will never be as delicious as my mom's. But recently it occurred to me to probe and see if I could learn her secret to successful soup. 

First I asked my mom what she remembered about chicken soup from her childhood. "It makes me think of holidays and Friday nights (the Jewish Sabbath)," she answered.

"We always had a kosher chicken, which makes the best soup. At the corner we had a place that sold live chickens, and grandmom would go and pick one out and a shochet (authorized to butcher in the kosher style) would kill the chicken. I remember grandmom bringing the chicken home and lighting the gas stove to burn the feathers. Then she would flick off the little burnt bits before making the soup. 

"I make it the way she did. You need a large pot, because invariably when you have chicken soup you have company. The chicken can be cut up or whole, it doesn't matter. I rinse the chicken—one that's 5 or 6 lb—and cut off some of the fat."

Traditional chicken soup recipe

3 large carrots, peeled or scraped

4 stalks of celery

1 or 2 parsnips

1 "big, fat" yellow onion

fresh dill

5 or 6 pound chicken, whole or cut into pieces, preferably kosher

kosher salt to taste (If you use a kosher chicken, you may not need to add salt.) 

Put the chicken and all the vegetables into a large pot. Leave the vegetables whole, except cut off the ends (though some people, like me, cut up the veggies). Use enough cold water to almost cover the chicken; make sure some of the chicken is poking out, otherwise the broth won't be rich enough. Cover and cook on medium-low heat. After 20 minutes or so, skim off the foam. Simmer on low heat for another 1 to 1 ½ hours. Check to see if the chicken is tender. Remove everything except the broth, which you put in the fridge until the fat surfaces. Then you can easily skim it. Serve the soup piping hot over fine egg noodles or matzoh balls that have been cooked separately. If you like, cut up the cooked carrots into the broth, which adds color. 

My mom asked me to add a P.S. "If you want to raise your cholesterol, after you make the soup, you can use the chicken fat to make chopped liver." That's what both my mother and grandmother used to do.

I decided to also ask some Jewish friends from my book club, The Gourmet Readers, how they make chicken soup and was surprised by the interesting variations: 

• Add a sweet potato in chunks. Makes it very sweet. Also, make the matzo balls small. And only refrigerate the batter for about 15 minutes.
• We like to use jalapenos - chopped small and added to the cooked soup - and some chopped fresh cilantro. We also add a cut up avocado. 
• I use pieces of only organic/kosher chicken breasts with bones....I remove the skin and wash them to an inch of their lives....modern kosher. I place them in a pot of cold water with carrots, onion, celery and a piece of fresh garlic. I let the water come to a boil and I skim the foam off the top. I let it cook slightly covered for at least an hour and a half. I season with fresh dill, fresh lemon, salt and pepper. I generally remove the chicken and bones and shred or make chicken salad.
• I used my mom's recipe for years and it always tasted like dish water. Ina Garten's is THE best — follow it to the letter. I'm sure it was her mother's or grandmother's :)

As for matzoh balls, several friends have tried making them from scratch but the consensus is to buy matzoh meal and follow the recipe on the box. 

What do you put in your chicken soup? I'd love to hear your questions, tips, etc. in the comments.