My favorite soup is Chicken Rice Soup, and I only use my grandmother's recipe. It's so simple, it's scary. And because I'm just a nice person, I'll share it with you.
This is the size pot I use:
I fill it with six quarts of water:
Into this pot filled with cold water, I add the following:
Three (3) split chicken breasts, two (2) tomatoes, one (1) onion, four (4) stalks of celery, five (5) carrots and roughly a tablespoon of whole peppercorns.
First I wash, trim and cut the celery in half:
and throw it in the pot. Then, wash and half the tomatoes:
and throw them into the pot. Next, I clean and half the onion, like so:
and throw it into the pot. Next comes the chicken. I know what you are thinking, you're thinking, "What about the carrots?" The carrots get placed in a microwave-safe bowl:
Because unlike a lot of other people, I do not cook my carrots in with everything else. Inevitably, they never soften, and I detest hard carrots in my soup. There is another reason why I do not add them, and I will get to that in a little bit. NOW! Onto the chicken!
While I use the skin from the chicken, I remove it before adding the lot to the pot. It is much easier to remove the skin before it is cooked than it is to remove the skin AFTER it is cooked and you are ready to cut the chicken up. So, next into the pot goes the chicken and skin:
It does look kind of icky, does it not? I assure you, the end result is fabulous!
Finally, to the pot I add roughly a tablespoon of whole peppercorns. You may omit this, if you wish. I think the pepper brings a wonderful peppery-ness to the soup.
I set the lid on the pot and the pot on the stove. I set the heat to high until the stock comes to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer for two to three hours.
In the meantime, I will wash, peel and cut the carrots and place them in the microwave-safe bowl and cover with water and cook in the microwave 15 minutes, or until tender:
This is where I am currently in the soup-making process! My kitchen already smells heavenly!
For now, we wait. And drool. When the stock is complete, I will return with the second half of the chicken-soup making process. Now hurry, you still have time to get the ingredients and make the soup with me!
The stock is finished - hurray! First, I remove the chicken and place it on a plate:
With the chicken out of the way, I can now strain the stock into a big bowl. I am one of those people that do not like veggies in soup. Because I strain the veggies, I do not cook the carrots with the tomatoes, onion and celery:
Now, with the stock poured back into the pot (which has been rinsed so that there are no peppercorns stuck to the bottom or sides), I cut up the chicken like so:
And throw it into the pot, along with the instant rice. It doesn't matter what kind of instant rice you use, I use a store brand.
And finally, strain and add the carrots.
Let is simmer in the pot:
for a half-hour or so. Ladle into a bowl and voila!
Enjoy!
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