Hungarian Heritage Review, 1991 (20. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)
1991-01-01 / 1. szám
OLD-FASHIONED CHICKEN SOUP (Serves 8) Place all the ingredients except the last five (parsley, chicken fat, grated carrot, butter, and sugar) in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer at least 4 hours. Remove from the heat and let the soup stand 30 minutes. Skim off the fat and pour the soup carefully through a sieve into another pot. Let the meat and vegetables cool on a cookie sheet. Saute the chopped parsley for 1 to 2 minutes in the chicken fat. Then add the cooked carrots, celery, and parsnip or parsley root. Cover, reduce the heat to very low, and cook 10 minutes. In a small frying pan, heat the sugar slowly until it starts to turn brown. Add the butter and the grated carrot. Stir this mixture 10 to 15 seconds, then remove from heat and dilute with 1/2 cup chicken soup. Bring it to a rapid boil and then strain it through a fine sieve into the soup. This will give color to the soup. Remove the chicken skin and bones; cut the meat into chunks. Put the meat and the vegetables sauteed with the parsley into a serving dish. Pour the soup over them and serve at once. 1 pinch mace 1 pinch nutmeg 1 or 2 blades saffron (optional) 1 1/2 to 2 pounds beef or veal bones 1 gallon water 1 tablespoon chopped parsley 1 piece chicken belly fat from the cavity of the hen 1 tablespoon sugar 1 tablespoon butter 1 tablespoon finely grated carrot CHEF'S SECRET The belly fat of the chicken is at the end of the breast and around the upper part of the thigh. The parsley sauteed with this fat will give an intense chicken flavor that people look for in vain in most modern chicken soups. The vegetables sauteed with this parsley will taste as vegetables should. The caotene, released from the grated carrot by the heat, combined with the browned sugar, gives the color that Grandma's chicken soup used to have. Although the soup is called chicken soup, do not try to make it with a young chicken. Only a stewing hen will give you the taste you want. 38 HUNGARIAN HERITAGE REVIEW JANUARY 1991 1 stewing hen, 3 1 /2 to 4 pounds, halved or quatered 2 cups coarsely chopped carrots 4 celery ribs, cut up 1 small onion, unpeeled, studded with 1 clove in the root end 1 parsley root or parsnip 1 piece celery root or turnip (white or yellow) 1 clove garlic 1 tablespoon salt 12 black peppercorns, slighty bruised
