Delicious

December Reflections Day 13

We are expecting freezing temperatures this week and what better way to warm up on a cold winter’s day than with a hearty soup? This is my mom’s recipe and it’s a delicious staple in our house during the colder season.

Without further ado I give you:

Ulla’s Homemade Chicken Soup

Ingredients

1 whole chicken or 4 chicken quarters
1 big onion, peeled and cut into half
1 tsp peppercorns
1 tsp cloves
2 bay leaves
4-6 carrots, peeled and sliced
4 celery stalks, sliced
1 container baby spinach or bunch of kale
6-7 vegetable bouillon cubes
1-2 tbsp of fresh or frozen chopped parsley and tarragon
Pepper or cayenne pepper to taste

Optional

Elbow or any other smallish pasta
Brown or white rice

Instructions

• Start by cooking the chicken. Wash and place it into a big pot and fill with water until chicken is just covered. Add onion, peppercorns, cloves and bay leaves. Bring to boil and then reduce heat to simmer for about 60-70 minutes, depending on size of chicken.

• While chicken cooks prepare the vegetables. 

• When chicken is done take it out and put on a board or large plate. Push down the skin, this helps cool it a bit for when you are ready to take off the meat. 

• Place a strainer over a second large pot and pour in the soup water, straining out the onion and spices. Put the new pot back on burner and bring to a simmer, add the stock cubes and stir. My pot has an engraved volume scale so I can see how much water it contains once the chicken has been removed. I use that as my gauge for the number of stock cubes, approx. 1 cube per half liter/16 fl oz. 

• Next add the vegetables in this order in 5-minute increments: carrots, celery and finally the spinach or kale.

• While the vegetable are cooking remove the meat from the chicken and place into a container. If it’s still too hot I use a fork and knife, otherwise my hands. 

• When you add the spinach or kale you can also put in the tarragon & parsley. 

• If you are adding pasta I usually cook that separate because there is alway soup left over and the pasta goes too mushy if left in the soup. 

Notes

I use vegetable stock cubes that I get from Germany, like my mother I use them to flavor a whole array of dishes. I haven’t found anything quite as good over here so I would say just use your best judgment, I’m sure Knorr or similar is fine. Don’t go for salt-free or super low-salt versions as I basically use these to add the perfect saltiness to the soup, no additional salting is required! If you’re not sure how many to add start on the low side and just add more at the end.

Top Tip

I often cook the chicken the day before and put the meat into a tupperware container once cooked. Then I place that and the soup into the fridge overnight. This way the fat in the soup solidifies and can be removed easily the next day before reheating the soup and continuing with the vegetables. Makes for a lower fat yet still delicious soup!

And that’s it! If you decide to cook this let me know how it goes and send me some pics. 

Enjoy!