Chicken soup has been known for decades, if not centuries, as Jewish penicillin. It is the bowl of comfort served up by bobbas (grand mothers) all over the world when we are sick. It has been discovered that chicken bones contain natural antibiotics which is why I would recommend using bone broth when making this recipe.
Head straight on to the recipe for Chicken Soup ♥
A decade ago I sat in the queue to vote in our local municipal elections and a young man sat down next to me. He told me he was not going to vote until a friend let him know that his one vote could make the difference. He did not want the Democratic Alliance (DA) to lose power in our area and so he came to make his mark. Next month we go to the polls again and I was speaking to a gentleman in his twenties about how expensive things are and it led us to the cost of living and our upcoming elections. The people who have been coaxed in to the Western Cape to vote for the opposition party are mostly unemployed. They don’t drive cars and the electricity in their homes is via illegal connections. He said that these people don’t see how the devaluing of the Rand affects the cost of living. They don’t pay for water and live in informal settlements so their only real expenses is food. And even though this continues to increase at a rapid rate, if that is your only expense your life is not impacted by everything else going up.
Today’s inspiration ♥ Recipe For Chicken Soup ♥ can be found on Lavender and Lime Share on X
So, to them it does not matter if they vote for a party that will lead to worsening conditions. But to me it does matter who I vote for. It also matters to me how much food costs, and how nutritious it is. I use only free range chickens and when I made this chicken soup we were fed very well for a few nights in a row, making my money stretch even further.
Recipe For Chicken Soup
Ingredients
day 1
- 7.5 mls canola oil
- 1 large chicken, quartered
- 250 mls white wine
- 500 mls bone broth
- 2 medium carrots, thickly sliced
- 250 g celery, thickly sliced
- 2 onions, peeled and quartered
- 1 whole fennel including the fronds, thickly sliced
- 10 g fresh flat leaf parsley
- 30 g fresh coriander
- 10 g tarragon
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 3 bay leaves
- 30 g fresh root ginger, thinly sliced
- 20 black peppercorns
- 5 allspice berries
day 2
- 50 g fresh root ginger, thinly sliced
- 20 g fresh coriander
Method
day 1
- Place the oil into a large stock pot and heat over a high temperature
- Add the chicken to the pot and brown all over
- Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside
- Wipe the pot using paper towel to get rid of the excess fat
- Place the wine into the pot and bring to the boil
- Boil for 1 minute and then place the chicken back in the pot
- Add the bone broth, reduce the temperature and bring to a gentle simmer
- Simmer for 10 minutes, skimming away any scum that forms
- Add the carrots, celery, onions and fennel
- Tie the parsley, coriander, tarragon and rosemary together
- Add to the pot with the bay leaves, ginger, peppercorns and allspice
- Bring back to a simmer and cook for 90 minutes
- If any scum forms, skim it off and add water if necessary to keep everything covered
- Turn the stove off and leave the soup to cool overnight
day 2
- Remove the bundle of herbs and discard
- Remove the chicken and pick the meat off the bones
- Set the chicken aside with a ladle of the soup to keep the meat moist *
- Set the bones aside
- Strain the soup through a muslin cloth
- Place the soup back into the pot with the bones, ginger and coriander
- Bring to a gentle simmer over a low temperature
- Simmer for 1 hour
- Strain through a muslin cloth
- Return the soup back to the pot and heat before serving
Notes
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
What I blogged July 21:
- two years ago – Sourdough Baguette
I love frugal recipes like this. And yes voting does count! Our recent Australian election was very close indeed!
it was amazingly close!
Eating nutritious and organic food is important to me as well, many times we stretch the most expensive foods to last a few days. The political scene here in the states is pretty crazy too.
I hope your political situation does not turn into a nightmare!
Lovely sounding soup Tandy.
Have a happy evening ahead.
🙂 Mandy xo
Thank you Mandy 🙂
I have not had fennel in chicken soup before, but it sounds wonderful! Definitely trying that soon. 🙂
I try using what is in my garden 🙂
Love reading the voting story. Tandy – My hubby seriously craving chicken soup today and so wish I could make this for him today. It sounds wonderful and they look so yummy, so will make this for him soon.
Hope he enjoys it Anu 🙂
I really like the idea of this Tandy, the chicken balls sound so tasty.
The ‘chicken balls’ are very tasty but are made from matza meal and get their flavour from the soup 🙂
Chicken soup really is the ultimate comfort food isn’t it. I always make it when I am feeling sick.
Me too, which means I might make some tonight if we get home early enough 🙂
Yum!I do love chicken soup. It’s very worrying when you realise all the dirty tricks that the ANC are employing to try and attract votes. Enjoy your leave, Tandy. xx
Thanks Sylvia, our leave was quite interesting!
This sounds like a delicious soup, especially with the fennel and tarragon…it must be very flavorful.
It was indeed 🙂
This looks just perfect! The meatballs take this over the top 🙂 Yum!
Thanks Sarah, those ‘meatballs’ are made from matza meal 🙂