Traditional Polish Chicken Soup Recipe
My Grandmother's Chicken Soup Recipe
This is a Polish chicken soup recipe that my Grandmother made for us on Sunday's throughout my childhood. It is very simple but really delicious and warming, excellent on a cold winter's day. Make sure you have a big pot to cook it in though, although if you want to make a smaller amount it is possible to use chicken pieces or thighs (but not breast, not enough flavour). As with most homemade soups the exact measurements don't matter very much.
Chicken soup Ingredients
To make the chicken soup you will need:
1. A chicken (free-range is best)
2. 2-3 pieces of oxtail or other stewing beef on the bone (optional but adds a good flavour)
3. 2 carrots
4. 1 leek
5. 2-3 stalks of celery
6. onion
7. 1 clove of garlic
8. salt, several peppercorns, parsley
Rinse the meat under the tap, put it in a large pot and cover with 1.5L of water (make sure the water covers the meat), season with salt.
Simmer gently for 1 hour. If you boil the stock too vigorously it will be cloudy, so make sure to cool it over a small flame.
Prepare the vegetables, rinse them and cut into large pieces (e.g. cut each carrot into 3), add all the vegetables, the peppercorns and half the parsley to the stock. The whole peppercorns add a more complex flavour than ground pepper but make sure they are removed before eating, biting into one is not pleasant. Simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove the meat from the soup, remove the meat form the bones in big pieces.
Pass the soup through a sieve to remove the vegetables, some people like eating them but I find them too soft. Muslin lined sieve will give you a very clear stock. If you want to remove the fat from the stock, cool it so the fat rises to the top and remove with a spoon.
Check the seasoning, serve the chicken soup with the pieces of chicken and beef, and cooked egg noodles (bought unless you're a fanatic and want to make them yourself). Garnish with the remaining parsley.
