Grandma Jacobs Chicken Soup

Grandma Jacobs’ Chicken Soup

From “Feastivals Cooks at Home,” by June Jacobs, CCP, FWS

This is the recipe I use whenever “chicken stock” is called for.  I grew up eating it and making it, and I’ve never found any better formula.  You are free to substitute your own Grandma’s recipe, of course!  I probably should have put this in the “Pantry” section since I use chicken stock in so many of my recipes, but it is so delicious to eat on its own, with one of its many accompaniments, that it just had to lead off the “Soup” chapter.

makes about 2 1/2 quarts of good soup

1 3-or 3 1/2-pound chicken (including FEET, if you can get them)

3 well-scrubbed (and scraped) carrots

1 large onion (left whole), peeled and poked through with a knife, stuck with 2 cloves

The whole top of a bunch of celery

1 parsley root (or a bunch of parsley wrapped in cheesecloth)

3 black peppercorns

1 tablespoon sea salt

Put all the ingredients into a large stock pot (or a pressure cooker, if you prefer).  Fill the pot about 7/8 full of water.  (If you use a pressure cooker, fill it 3/4 full).  Bring to a boil and let simmer for 1 1/2 hours.  (In the pressure cooker, your soup will be done when the pressure has been up for about 16 minutes.)

Teacher’s Tips:      1.  In our family, we always strain the soup and serve it clear with kreplach, knaidlach or noodles.  The boiled chicken is then available for sandwiches or chicken salad.

2.  When I’m planning to freeze this for stock, I return the strained, de-fatted soup to a clean stockpot and reduce it to concentrate the flavor.  I like to freeze the soup in 8-ounce yogurt containers.  This gives me enough rich stock to use as a base for another soup, or for a sauce.

Matzo Balls (Knaidlach)

My grandmother made the world’s lightest matzo balls.  She passed the secret on to my mother who, ‘tho not Jewish, continued in the tradition.  If you follow my instructions carefully, you too can be assured of ethereally light matzo balls.

makes about 30 (we like ‘em smallish)

3 eggs, well beaten

1 cup matzo meal

1/2 cup warm water

1/4 cup chicken fat, melted (vegetable oil doesn’t give the right flavor!)

1 teaspoon sea salt

1.         Stir up the mixture and chill well (overnight or 3-4 hours, minimum).

2.         Fill a large stockpot 3/4 full of water and put in a whole large onion, which has been poked through with a knife.  Add 1 1/2 tablespoons salt.  COVER THE POT and bring to a rolling boil.

3.         Form the matzo mixture into balls a little larger than golf balls, and slide them into the covered pot of boiling water, one at a time.  KEEP THE POT COVERED AT ALL TIMES, even between additions of dumplings.  When all the matzo balls have been added to the pot, set the timer for 40 minutes.  DO NOT OPEN THE POT DURING THE COOKING PROCESS, OR THE KNAIDLACH WILL BE HARD!

4.         At the end of 40 minutes, remove pot from heat and carefully lift the dumplings from the hot water one at a time (using a slotted spoon).  Heat them in the chicken soup to serve.

Copyright  2001 by Feastivals