Author Notes
My father Barry Wine (chef/owner of the now closed Quilted Giraffe restaurant in NYC) showed me how to make this great homemade chicken soup about 10 years ago. I make it often because it's one of my favorite meals.
One of the great things about this recipe is that it yields great leftovers that are endlessly variable. You can mix some miso (instead of salt) into a serving of soup or try it with a little crème fraiche. Have some with leftover cooked rice or potatoes one day, with coconut milk and some Thai chili sauce added another day... And don't forget about noodles- anything from egg noodles to buckwheat soba noodles works well!
—WinnieAb
Ingredients
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1
whole chicken, approx. 3-4 pounds, preferably free-range
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1 tablespoon
butter
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1 tablespoon
olive oil
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1
onion, peeled and chopped
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3
carrots, peeled and chopped
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3
ribs celery, chopped
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3
parsnips, peeled and chopped
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1
large turnip, peeled and chopped
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1/4
-1/2 large daikon radish, peeled and chopped
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coarse sea salt to taste
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fresh black pepper to taste- optional
Directions
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Heat olive oil and butter in a large soup pot. Place chicken in the pot and allow to sear for a minute or so on each side. Add a little water if necessary to prevent the chicken from burning.
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Add chopped onion and cook for several minutes, moving the chicken around, again adding a little water to prevent burning.
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Add the rest of the vegetables, and then add enough water to cover the chicken (about 10 cups). Bring to a boil, skim any foam that rises to the top, and then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 50 minutes-1 hour.
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Turn off heat. Carefully remove the chicken and allow to cool in a separate bowl.
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If you are going to be serving all of the soup right away, you’ll want to remove the meat from the chicken bones, chop or shred it, and add it back into the soup (make sure you don’t burn yourself).
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Sprinkle with course sea salt and freshly ground pepper before serving; you might also want to add some finely chopped greens such as kale (the heat will wilt them down) and/or green onions before serving.
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If you are eating just some of the soup right away, I suggest taking the meat off the chicken and then storing it in the refrigerator to add back into individual servings of soup. You can also reserve some of the chicken for another use, like chicken salad.
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One last tip: Do not discard your picked over chicken bones; keep them in the freezer so that you can make chicken stock.
I grew up in a restaurant family (my parents owned the now closed Quilted Giraffe in NYC) and I've always loved to cook.
My interest in the connection between food and health led me to pursue a graduate degree in naturopathic medicine. I don't practice medicine anymore; I have a blog called Healthy Green Kitchen that I started in May of 2009 and I wrote a book called One Simple Change that will be published in January, 2014.
I live in upstate New York with my family and many pets.
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