Who’s thinking hot soup in August? It was great for the rainy day on Thursday though. My sister Kristen gave Heather and I a nice hearty helping of this soup and it was Excellent. Although, I may have offended my mother by saying it was the best I ever had!
Here it is:
Do not be intimidated by the length of the recipe. This soup is EASY, although it is not fast. I start the chicken boiling first thing in the morning, and then meander my way through the recipe as the day progresses. I love it for providing me lots of start and stop time; I don’t ever have to hover over the stove or have to have 30 minutes of dedicated food prep time. You literally throw ingredients in and walk away. De-boning the chicken is the most time-consuming part, but if you cook the chicken long enough, the meat just falls off the bone anyway and your work is done for you.
You will need:
1 of Greg’s chickens (can still be frozen!)
1 of Greg’s onions, chunked
1 of Greg’s heads of garlic, cloves roughly chopped
a handful of Greg’s carrots, roughly chopped
another sizeable portion of Greg’s carrot, finely chopped
fresh mushrooms
Better Than Bouillon vegetable base (or a chicken or vegetable base you like)
seasoned salt – your choice (chunky salts work well in this recipe)
freshly ground pepper
a substantial, hearty rice (I use brown Nashiki; wild rice blends also work. I do not recommend a finer-textured rice like Jasmine; it will just turn to mush.)
optional: swiss chard or kale; parsley
To make:
In a large pot, throw in:
1 of Greg’s chickens (can still be frozen!)
1 of Greg’s onions, chunked
1 of Greg’s heads of garlic, cloves roughly chopped
a handful of Greg’s carrots, roughly chopped
(you can also choose to add celery and/or fresh herbs tied together and dropped in and/or dried mushrooms. I just go with what I have on hand.)
Boil together until chicken is falling off the bone. (I keep a cover perched on the pot so it vents some of the steam but doesn’t evaporate the water too quickly.) Voila, stock.
Remove the chicken.
At this point, you can either:
a. remove the vegetables and compost them
or
b. leave them in and use an immersion blender to puree them right into the soup base.
To the hot stock, add:
1 heaping teaspoon of Better Than Bouillon vegetable base.
finely diced carrots (as much as you want)
seasoning – salt and pepper. I use a seasoned salt from Sagra that has other spices in it. I highly recommend using a salt blend of some kind to add some depth to the soup.
boil a while until carrots are soft.
then add:
chopped mushrooms (try them from the mushroom grower at Easton’s Farmers Market!)
rice – eyeball it to preference. I use about 2 cups of rice because I like rice-y soup
Bring to a boil, then immediately cover pot and lower to a simmer until rice is cooked (about 30-40 minutes for Nashiki; check your rice’s package for cooking times).
Meanwhile, de-bone chicken and shred/chop. I save a good portion of the chicken breast meat for another use because the chicken provides so much meat, it’s more than enough for the soup for us. But add as much chicken as you wish.
Once the rice is done, add the chicken back in until warmed. Now – Taste the soup! It may need more seasoning. If it needs more, add more. If you over-did it earlier, add a potato cut into quarters into the soup to soak up some of the saltiness.
At this point, you are ready to serve. OR — add in swiss chard or kale while the soup is hot, and cover until wilted. OR — add fresh parsley