I spent quite some time thinking about this post – all of five minutes – before deciding to indulge the foodie within. If you must blame anyone then please blame Maggie O and SweetMother. Those dear lady bloggers are talking diets and food at the moment and I’m just too weak to resist such a potent trend so what else could I write about except my Mother’s chicken soup?
My Mum swore that chicken soup could cure anything. Sadly no double-blind experiments were ever done to prove or disprove that assertion so I can’t promise you a cure for cancer or bunions or sagging boobs but it does taste wonderful and is one of the easiest recipes I know. Plus! You don’t have to go out and buy a ton of fancy ingredients. All you’ll need are a few common vegetables, a chicken and some soup noodles. So let’s begin!
Hungarian Chicken Soup Recipe
Ingredients :
1 whole chicken or chicken portions with bones – think wings, drumsticks etc. The flavour comes from the bones people.
1 brown onion
3 cloves of garlic
2 good sized carrots
4-5 sticks of celery
1 parsnip [optional]
1 capsicum [sweet bell pepper]
fresh parsley
salt & pepper [white or black according to taste]
soup noodles
Method :
Put the chicken into a pot at least twice as large as the chicken. Fill with cold water and bring to the boil.
Peel the onions and garlic and throw into the pot whole.
Wash the celery sticks, cut in half and throw in the pot.
Peel the carrots [and parsnip if using], cut in half and throw in the pot.
Wash the capsicum [bell pepper], cut in half and throw in the pot.
Wash the parsley [about 2 small handfuls] and – you guessed it – throw in the pot.
By now the water should be close to boiling and you should see a pale foam starting to come to the top. Skim the foam off a couple of times with a ladle so you end up with a nice, clear broth at the end. Once the foam stops, lower the heat to a gentle simmer, add a little bit of salt and a fair bit of pepper, put the lid on and go away for about 2 hours.
The biggest secret to flavour is time. You’ve put all the good stuff in now let it cook long enough for all those flavours to combine.
When the soup is cooked you will have a number of options :
I’m hungry now option
In a separate pot cook some fine soup noodles [I use angel hair noodles that take about 3 minutes to cook].
While the noodles are cooking grab your trusty ladle and skim off as much of the fat floating on top of the soup as you can.
Drain the noodles, serve up into bowls and top with the cooked carrots and lots of chicken broth. Add extra salt because my recipes are never salty enough and eat!
I’m on a diet option
Nothing terribly tricky for this one, just patience and a bit of organization.
Pour the soup through a strainer into another pot. Reserve the carrots [and chicken if you like boiled chicken] and throw the rest into the compost.
Let the soup broth cool a little then cover and put in the fridge overnight.
When you’re ready for dinner the next night, skim off all the congealed bits of fat floating on top of the broth and discard. What you’re left with is a rich broth with no fat. Reheat and serve as for the ‘I’m hungry now‘ option.
I’ve had enough soup now option
The broth will last for about 3 days in the fridge. After that you can freeze it in smaller portions. I use these portions to add extra flavour to everything from rice to sauces to stews. And of course you can always just reheat them as soup! Nothing goes to waste 😀
I probably shouldn’t write this next bit as it completely ruins the healthy, low fat tone of the soup recipe but… I sometimes whip up some crepes to round off a soup meal and fill those last few holes. They are delicious served with cinnamon and sugar or jam or even just lemon juice and sugar. If you’re good and ask nicely I may post my recipe for quick, easy crepes on another day when I’m feeling self indulgent…
Enjoy!
May 27th, 2012 at 9:25 pm
[…] except from Australia instead of Austria. She likes her food and occasionally she’ll share a great recipe with us. Instead of following the instructions of her award, I’ll change things up and say […]
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May 28th, 2012 at 12:17 am
Thanks Pinky 😀 There’s a small tapas bar near here but they don’t serve a fraction of those delicious things you gorged on. Send me some in a doggie back please!
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May 11th, 2012 at 4:40 am
i’m ssoooooo going to try this recipe! yaaay. and i tried to comment last night, but got dissed by my own internet, seriously. we went ‘off the grid’ accidentally over here last night. lol. xo, sm
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May 11th, 2012 at 8:10 am
I’m glad it’s behaving itself again now. I get sort of panicky when the net’s down, as if I’m in a small room and suddenly all the doors and windows slam shut.
Enjoy the soup 🙂
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May 10th, 2012 at 3:48 pm
I is der Hungarian representative of der ‘VINE’ vich is der Vegetables In Need of Encouragement. Ve is complainink because you keep callink us common. Is not true, ve is not common , well except for der commentator but you not usink him. Please to have respekts for us in future or ve send out der giant leek for your pan..
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May 10th, 2012 at 4:54 pm
I do not want a giant leak in my pan of chicky soup! This sounds delicious, will be eating mine with some unhealthy crusty bread smeared with real butter…yum!
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May 10th, 2012 at 6:02 pm
pssst! crusty bread and real butter is perfect but don’t say I said so!
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May 10th, 2012 at 6:20 pm
Mmmmm… cholesterol…
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May 10th, 2012 at 6:24 pm
Mmmm, I can feel my arteries harden as we speak. And now you women have made me hungry again I shall have to have toast with a liberal helping of butter to calm me.
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May 10th, 2012 at 8:26 pm
Now, now…you can’t blame my soup for that! I did provide a low fat option. Not my fault if you chose to ignore it 😀
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May 10th, 2012 at 8:23 pm
Shhhh – it’s not transfatty just hip-fatty, there’s a difference!
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May 10th, 2012 at 6:00 pm
Bocsanot kerek! -kowtow kowtow- mwahahaha!
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May 10th, 2012 at 6:21 pm
Bocsánatkérés elfogadva a kedves hölgy. Huge Hugs. xx
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May 10th, 2012 at 8:24 pm
roflmao! I am so impressed! And you got all the accents right! You’re a man of many talents Daud 😀 -hugs-
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May 10th, 2012 at 1:40 pm
That sounds like a very good bowl of chicken soup. I haven’t made a soup fresh in a while. Maybe it is a nice idea for in the weekend. I will definitely give this recipe a go. Thanks for sharing.
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May 10th, 2012 at 5:57 pm
Just make sure you make lots of noodles to go with it and the kids should love it 😀 Enjoy!
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May 10th, 2012 at 10:23 am
I think there is something international about chicken soup. With the notable exception of the pepper, your family recipe looks like my grandmas, and, as it happens, I’ve added sweet pepper when I’ve made it.
Chicken Soup — the universal cure for a bad day or a bad cold.
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May 10th, 2012 at 12:15 pm
Yeah, chicken soup seems to be one of those wonderful, universal things like fire or Shakespeare 😀
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May 10th, 2012 at 12:23 pm
How about a bowl of chicken soup, by a fire while reading Shakespeare? Sounds like a lovely autumn evening. We’re in spring on the other side of the world. Moving from hot soup to gazpacho season.
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May 10th, 2012 at 5:56 pm
lol – that sounds just about perfect to me. Let me add some crusty bread, fresh butter and a bottle of red!
We’ve had a truly gorgeous autumn day and I really wouldn’t swap timezones with you! Then again we don’t get snow so that makes a difference 😀
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