Um, as promised..
Chicken soup.
Others may do it in another way but this is the way I make my chicken soup. And um, realizing some may have never made soup themselves I try to keep this explanation as simple as possible.
~
First I start with making a broth (or stock or bouillon as we call it here). A broth is the liquid that remains after the herbs, vegetables and meat are, via sieve, 'filtered' out. For this broth is needed: (to finish with, let's say, 4 bowls of chicken soup)
- a big pan (or 2 really, the second one a little later)
- p/m 2½ litres of cold water
- a stove, a chopping board and good (chef's) knife
- 2 onions
- 2 leeks
- 2 carrots
- 2 stalks of celery
- 'bouquet garni' = classically/basically: thyme, bay leave and
parsley.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouquet_garni - 1 glove of garlic
- 3/4 grains of black pepper
- 1 clove
- salt
For the chicken broth I use:
- a bouillon cube (for chicken soup)
- 2 (prae-seasoned with salt and pepper) chicken legs. Well, which parts of the chicken (wing, leg, breast, etc. ) to use for this broth/soup isn't that important. The amount of it does though. Today I use 2 chicken legs (the whole legs of the chicken, I mean, not 2 drumsticks for instance cos that would be too little an amount to use)
~
Peel off the outer skin of the 2 onions and chop them smaller. (You can do this quite randomly/doesn't matter much.. but but do mind your fingers). Lay them aside on e.g. a clean plate. Then clean the carrots with a peeler and chop them up. Onto plate and get rid of all the stuff to throw away.
Um, the leeks needs some attention to clean/wash them properly. Sand in what ever dish is, ja, wrong. Get rid of the outer leave(s), cut off bottom and a little bit of the top too. Chop the darker part up in 'rough' rings and wash them really really well. That darker (green) part will contain the most sand and the white part of the leek will have most likely almost none.
Leave some of the white part of 1 leek in tact though. This, to use in the soup after the broth is finished. Chop and wash the rest (p/m ¾ of the leeks). Lay aside.
The 2 stalks of celery tend to have sand on them as well but wash them properly before chopping them up. Again get rid of all the things to throw away. Maybe wash hands.
Throw the 4 chopped up vegetables in the big, which doesn't contain any water at this point, pan. (maybe do a little silly dance/optional)
The bouquet garni: parsley, bay leave and thyme. Usually I only take some stems of the parsley but 1 or 2 stem with the leaves on them suffice here too. 1 or 2 bay leaves (dried/out of little sachet/package) and a pinch of dried thyme (or 1 little stem of fresh thyme maybe). You could tie them together but sec throwing them in the pan is fine too.
Peel the outer skin of glove of garlic and slap the sucker on the head. Um, brushing it under a 'flat' knife for example, I mean. In pan.
Break the grains of pepper.. by dropping a piano from the top floor of a building nearby onto the pavement, on where you've strategically placed the pepper grains beforehand and.. yeah, see and learn if all the effort put into making that possible was worth it..
Aaah, try to stay a little bit serious here, luut. (surry)
Um, where was I? Ah, yes, chicken soup, ofc.
Fill the pan with COLD water, after you thrown in the little clove, the bouillon cube and a fair amount of salt lastly, now. Fill the pan with that much water so everything in the pan swims comfortably in it, or at least so that all veggies/herbs are just under the water surface. Try not to use more than 3 litres of water but that depends also on the amount of chicken's meat one wishes to use for the broth/the to be soup also.
Pan on the stove, full heat, a gently stir with a wooden spoon and put the lit on the pan. Don't go away and do something else completely now but kinda wait till the water boils. When so, lower the heat under the pan and lower it that much that it continues to simmer but not boils like mad.
If one lets this simmer for about an hour and pours it through a sieve after it, collecting the liquid in an other pan, one basically has a vegetable broth there.
Well, don't let it simmer for an hour now, (cos yeah, trying to make chicken soup here), just let the broth with only the herbs and veggies simmer for maybe 5 minutes and add the chicken's meat after that. Thing here is you should NOT add the chicken in the cold water earlier, but wait till the veggie broth is hot. This, because that way the meat stays tender and usable to put in the soup later on.
Jeez, this is becoming a way too long text.. but nearly there..
Let it simmer for p/m 45 minutes with the lit ON the pan again and check and stir once in a while. The use of a cooking timer is very handy here.
~
Aaaand 45 minutes later it's time to take the chicken parts out and lay them on your (clean again) chopping board. Pour the broth through a sieve, collecting the liquid in the other pan. Let it drip for a while, maybe squeeze by pressing the wooden spoon in the sieve a little and ja, you technically have chicken stock.
~
Now to make chicken soup, you try to get as much nice/good to use chicken's meat of the bones. No skin and other things, just the tender pieces of the meat and chop them somewhat smaller. Chop up the clean white part of the leek you lay aside earlier too. Try to make very fine rings here.
Cut a clean carrot into little pieces too and add, with the leek rings, to the broth. I usually add a little vermicelli (or those little letter thingies made out of dough) at this point too. Place the pan, with the added leek rings, carrot and vermicelli thus, on the stove again and let it boil again for a couple of minutes. Add the chicken's meat and there you have it.
Chicken soup (alla lutra).
Phew.
Maybe nobody cares reading this long post but still hope I've explained it properly there.
