Jewish Chicken Soup to heal the soul - and the flu!

Make this with love and those on the receiving end will benefit from your gift made from the heart.

This is an amazing recipe I always prepare when sickness arrives in the household. When I am better organised I usually have some in the freezer and eat it during the winter months….particularly during the flu season. However, I was caught this year. I made a rushed batched this morning to assist in getting us through.

The recipe is based on a traditional recipe given to by my “Jewish Princess” friend, Nikki. Her mother would make you down a bowl of this whenever you showed ANY sign of discomfort, depression, pain or ANYTHING negative. I have added a few things to suit my own tastes and from browsing the internet and reading different recipes. Enjoy!

What you will need:

• 1 chicken – if raw, place whole chicken, if using a BBQ roast chicken use the carcass with the meat removed
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 4 garlic cloves – skin on, whole
• ½ a bunch of dill
• 2 large onions, peeled and cut in half for the stock
• 1 large onion diced or grated for the soup
• 2 carrots – around a cup full of carrot either diced, shredded or in chunks
• 1 turnip, peeled and grated
• 4 stalks of celery thinly sliced.
• ½ a bunch of parsley washed, finely chopped
• 2 chicken stock cubes
• 1 red chilli, finely sliced
• 2 cups shredded chicken meat

Putting it all together:

1. Place the chicken bones, salt, garlic, dill and onion into a saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil.  Remove any scum that may float to the top. Take off the heat and remove any further scum that may rise to the top.
2. Simmer for 1 ½ hours.
3. At this stage you can decide to halt procedures and place the strained stock into the fridge overnight. This will allow you to remove any fat from the chicken broth. If time is against me, I won’t do this I simply strain the broth and continue with the recipe.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to the boil. Simmer on low heat for 1 to 1 ½ hours.

HINT: Traditionally Nikki’s mother used a raw whole chicken. For convenience I use a BBQ roast chicken.