The first chicken soup of the season

[ellen_datlow]

Today I'm making my first chicken soup of this winter. What I do is buy a roast chicken at the supermarket and eat the wings and some white meat while it's fresh.

Then the next day or so I throw the rest of the chicken whole (skin, fat, bones) into a large pot, put in salt, water, parsnips, and potatoes and put it on a very low heat, checking it regularly. Sometimes I'll throw in a few bay leaves, but it really doesn't need it. Later, I'll thrown in some carrots (they cook the quickest). When it's been over the flame for a few hours (replenishing any water that boils off) it sits and cools down until I can hand the chicken and take it all the way off the bones (I'll eat the marrow of the larger bones as I work)--throw out the skin and any fat or cartilage I found and pack it up into plastic containers to freeze. It will usually last for a few meals.

And I can work while the pot cooks.

Comments

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Whatever is used on the roasted chicken skin seeps into the soup, which is what gives it the flavor I love. I know some people also add onions but I don't.

Hmmm. I'm not familiar with savoy cabbage (just googled to see what it looks like) but I'll bet that and celery would give it a whole different flavor.

[alaneer.livejournal.com]

Savoy cabbage looks like regular cabbage except the leaves a crinkled, sort of like wrinkled silk? The taste is certainly different. I also add--sometimes--pork into the pot, usually ribs. We eat the meat and the soup for a couple of days, so it's very useful to avoid cooking every day.

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Since I rarely cook, making a soup (that can if I allow it become a stew) is very useful.

Are the ribs raw when you put them in? That sounds like an interesting mix of flavors--with the chicken and cabbage.

[alaneer.livejournal.com]

Everything is raw when I start. It takes about 2 hours to cook. Then we put very thin pasta into the soup, and eat the meat and veggy for a second course.

I used to cook 4-5 times a week, but I'd cut it down drastically in the past year.

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

Isn't that the pale cabbage with the long head and faintly spicy taste?

[ellen-datlow.livejournal.com]

Here's what it looks like: http://tinyurl.com/29rvdb

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I think I was thinking of bok choy or Nappa cabbage.

[alaneer.livejournal.com]

That's the one. :-)

[alaneer.livejournal.com]

Sort of, some are maybe oval, but the leaf colors vary from dark green to light. The only distinguishing thing is the wrinkled looking leaves. It does have a strong flavor.