Soups
Sparky's Clear Hungarian Chicken Broth
- 1 whole uncooked chicken (or 2 pounds of chicken pieces such as legs, wings and breast) Optionally replace chicken pieces with turkey pieces.
- 4 average sized carrots
- 4 average sized parsnips
- 3-4 cloves of garlic
- 3 celery stalks
- 2 kohlrabi bulbs
- 1 cooking onion
- 1 bunch of green onion
- 1/2 bunch of Italian parsley
Spice/Seasoning:
- 1 whole nutmeg
- 12-18 whole peppercorns
- 3 tbs of kosher/sea salt
- 1 inch of ginger root
Preparation:
Clean all vegetables
Peel and slice carrots into fat 4 inch sticks
Peel and slice parsnips into fat 4 inch sticks
Peel and halve koralabi bulbs
Cut celery stalks into 4 inch sections
Peel cooking onion
Tie parsley and green onion bunches together
Peel and halve ginger root
Halve the whole nutmeg
Optional:
Remove chicken skin
Cooking:
1) In a 6-8 litre cooking pot place chicken into 3.5 litres of water. Bring the water to a boil and immediately reduce the heat to a low simmer. Allow chicken to simmer for 10-15 minutes.
2) Skim the foam from the top of the pot being careful not to disturb the broth too much.
3) Add the spices and all the vegetables. Make sure to leave the green onion and parley bunch until last - placing them on top.
4) Temporarily raise the heat until the broth comes to a boil again - and once again immediately reduce heat to a low simmer.
5) Cover the pot and let simmer for 1-2 hours (or longer).
DO NOT PEAK. DO NOT STIR THE BROTH.
Finishing up:
6) Near the end of cooking taste the broth. Careful, its hot. Add salt as needed and allow to simmer for a few more minutes.
7) Carefully remove all the vegetables starting with the parsley and green onion bunch at the top. Be careful not to disturb the broth.
8) Very carefully remove the chicken from the broth. It will be very cooked and may break apart. This may result in splashing of hot broth from the pot! Try to keep the chicken or chicken pieces as whole as possible.
9) Skim off any excess fat from the top of the broth. Strain the broth through a strainer into containers of your choice (glass is ideal).
10) De-bone the chicken. Serve soup with pieces of the chicken, the cooked carrots and parsnips.
All of the vegetables are edible, however you will likely want to discard the onion and parsley bunch, the koralabi roots, whole onion and celery stalks. Their texture and flavour at the end of cooking may not be for everyone. Certainly keep the carrots and parsnips and serve with the soup.
You may freeze this broth!
After refrigerating over night you may notice a layer of fat on the top of the broth. Feel free to skim this off and toss it before re-heating.
You may also notice that the broth is gelatinous. This is normal and GOOD. It means that you did everything right. It will not maintain this texture after re-heating.
Simple Veggie Broth Base
- 2 onions, diced
- 3 celery stalks, chopped (including leafy parts)
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 2 bay leafs
- 3 cloves of garlic, diced
- ginger to taste (usually I start with a thumbnail's worth)
- olive oil
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- sea salt
- water
1) Add oil to a large pot (just enough to cover the bottom surface of the pan) and heat over medium-high temperature. Add your onions and stir. Let onions sweat for at least 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2) When the onions start to look translucent, add celery and carrots. Stir and continue to cook for another 10 minutes.
3) Add garlic. Season with salt. Stir and cook another 5 minutes.
4) Add water (the less amount of water you add, the stronger the soup base will be. Keep in mind this will result in less soup. Since this is a base, I suggest you fill the pot 3/4 of the way).
5) Add bay leaves and ginger. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to minimum (just warm enough to simmer it) and cover with a lid. Let the soup simmer for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Add apple cider vinegar.
6) Season to taste. Remove bay leaves.
Now, you can do one of two things:
a) strain soup and discard veggies
b) put veggies in a blender/food processor and blend with soup liquid to create a thicker soup base. Add back to broth.
For anyone who has never made a soup from scratch, here is a simple way to create a broth base. You can make this, pour it into glass containers and freeze it until you want to make a more complex soup from it. It's easier to make soups from a base instead of having to start from scratch every time.
You could add any veggies or meat you want to this soup recipe. I encourage you to. The more veggies, the more taste it will have. I just find using the "trilogy" (onions, carrots, celery) produces the best taste for a foundation that works in all soups you might want to use it for later.
Evelyne's Beef Soup
- 2 cups beef (or one pound ground)
- 1 cup each of the following: onion, celery, carrot, red pepper.
- 2 cups spinach
- Brown basmati rice (I use 1/3 cup which equals 1 cup cooked)
- Lots of garlic (I use 6 cloves)
- Lots of fresh ginger (I use a 2-3 inch chunk, grated or chopped)
- Olive oil
- 9 cups water
- 1 tsp salt
1) Start by browning the beef in a little oil.
2) Add celery, carrot and onion for about 10 mins.
3) Add red pepper, cooked rice, and water.
4) Add spinach before serving so that it remains nice and green. Serve with a little olive oil.
Evelyne's Notes:
The garlic and ginger make this soup a great yeast fighter and gut healer. Some of you may want to omit the rice. I only use 1/3 cup raw which equals 1 cup cooked. No more than that. I just simply make an extra large amount one night and put 1 cup away in the freezer, then I've got it ready to be chucked into the soup.