hey everyone,

me an' laura had a hankerin' for some chicken soup.i went to the archives under country kitchen and couldn't believe there were not any recipes for homemade chicken soup!anybody gotta good one?you know the kind that'll cure a cold in 7-10 days. don't hold back now,cuz niether one of us is a really good cook,unless companies com'n over that is. thanks again

-- fred in wi (sixuvusmeyers@aol.com), November 27, 2000

Answers

Chicken Broth Soup: Boil chicken parts or cracked bones, preferably the back and tail, til there's no flavor left in the parts. 6 pieces in a dutch oven with water to cover. Also boil 2 cut up medium onions, 4 large cloves of garlic, 2 cut up carrots, and 2 cut up stalks of celery, and if you have it a small handful of fresh parsley and a hot pepper. Salt to taste. Boil all this with the chicken parts. Strain. You now have a delicious broth for drinking or cooking.

Chicken Broth Veggie Soup: Use the stock above, bring to a boil, add 2 med. potatoes, a couple carrots, a large onion, a clove or two of garlic cabbage, turnip-all this stuff is chopped. Add a hot pepper. When that is tender-10 min. or so, add whatever frozen vegggies you want-peas, corn, etc. then after that comes to a boil for a few minutes add canned stuff, like green beans, diced pumpkin, summer squash, etc. Salt and pepper to taste. Simmer all this for a couple hours over low heat, add herbs such as, sage, thyme, parsley, etc. whatever sounds good, the last hour of cooking. If you want, add noodles and cook til tender. Take out hot pepper, Enjoy with homemade bread. MMM MMM MMM MMM!

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), November 27, 2000.

If you want the complete medicinal components of the chicken in your soup, simmer the bird/parts for 24 hrs, and be sure to put a couple tablespoons of vinegar in the water first. It helps extract the minerals from the bones.

-- Earthmama (earthmama48@yahoo.com), November 27, 2000.

oh yeah,

how doya make dumplins?

thanks again, fred

-- fred in wi (sixuvusmeyers@aol.com), November 27, 2000.

Here is Moms Chicken Dumpling soup 1/2 large chicken one large onion Celery to taste

Put in pot. Cover with water. Simmer for approx. 1 hour. Add cut up carrots. Continue to simmer until tender. When meat is done cut it up.Strain soup and skim fat. Dumpling Mix eggs and flour to make a soft dough-not too runny. Cook dumplings in boiling water that has 3 or 4 boullion cubes in it until semi cooked. Do not overcook. Brain and put aside. When soup is done add strained soup and carrots to dumplings and simmer 10 minutes. Add more bouillion cubes to soup to taste. Also add the cut up meat.

When I make the dumplings I take them out of the boiling water when they float. This soup is great put in the freezer for later use. Also I use a tablespoon and knife to drop the batter into the boiling water. After you do it a few times you will learn how much to make the size dumpling you want.

-- Nick (wildheart@ekyol.com), November 27, 2000.

I make my dumplings using a receipt from a Betty Crocker cook book from 1970. It is like a drop biscut,using flour, baking powder, shortning, salt and milk. It is dropped on the chicken in the pot, not in the boiling water and cooked uncovered then covered for the last 10 min. They are light and fluffy.

-- Pam Creighton (zpjc5_@hotmail.com), November 28, 2000.

I've never used a recipe out of a book but here is how I make it and everybody loves it. I usually buy leg quarters when they are on sale so I put about 4 in a large pot and cook till the meat is falling off the bones. Remove chicken and debone it..save liquid. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Chop up fine about 1/4 of an onion and 1 stalk of celery...saute till translucent in butter. Heat up broth and add egg noodles and onion/celery mix...boil till about done and add chicken and a can of carrots (drained)....salt and pepper to taste. My kids even love this soup.

-- Amanda in Mo (aseley@townsqr.com), November 28, 2000.

Put a whole chicken in a roaster, rub a little butter on the skin, pour about 2 cups orange juice on top then sprinkle lemon pepper on the bird. Put about 5 pealed potatoes, carrots, 2 onoins,in the roaster with the bird. Bake at 350 for about 2 hours. We have this for supper the first night . Then the next day chop all the leftover meat and veggies. Add the to the broth (orange juice it was cooked in) and some canned chicken broth. Simmer for a few minutes. This is the BEST chicken soup I've ever had. sherry in south central IN

-- sherry (Calfarm@msn.com), November 28, 2000.

I'm afraid that I don't have a recipe per se for this, I just keep throwing it into the pot....

Chicken meat (new or leftover) Chicken broth (homemade or Pacific brand) Wild & brown rice (precooked leftovers or added new) thin sliced carrots some chopped celery chopped onion garlic powder, parsley, white pepper can of cream of chicken soup (or not...) canned bamboo shoots, diced canned water chestnuts, sliced mushrooms if you like them...

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), November 30, 2000.

When I process my chickens, I bone them out and that leaves me with boneless, skinless chicken meat. All the bones, backs, necks and wingtips go into a roaster for a slow roast until browned. Then it all goes into a stock pot with one onion, one bulb garlic, 2 stalks celery, bay leaf, basil and parsley and about a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and cooked overnight.

In the morning, strain it through a colander, cool and remove the fat.

Coat the dutch oven with a little olive oil and preheat to medium high. Add cut up boneless, skinless chicken parts, stir around, add chopped onion, garlic carrots and celery and stir again. Add defatted chicken broth, turn down the heat when it begins to simmer. Add 2 cup green beans, parsley and a little basil. Season with SPIKE seasoning. Keep at a simmer. At this point, you can add noodles or dumplings.

I don't have a written dumpling recipe. It is like pancake batter only thick and sticky. (buttermilk dumplings!) You can add parsley to the batter. Drop by spoonfuls on boiling soup. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

-- Laura (gsend@hotmail.com), November 30, 2000.

What is Spike Seasoning? And--- where do I get it?

-- Clare Baldwin (clare_baldwin@hotmail.com), December 01, 2000.

Spike is a sea salt vegetable seasoning. You can find it at almost any health food store or health food department of most big grocery stores. Albertson's carries it with the other seasonings. It comes in regular and salt free. The salt free has too much horseradish in it for me.

-- Laura (gsend@hotmail.com), December 01, 2000.

Here is my chicken soup recipe:

One chicken or turkey left overs. Boil until there is no meat left on the bones, about 2-3 hours depending on the size of bird in the pot. If it is particularly greasy (like the ones on sale at the store), then scoop off the grease. Add some salt, then 4 tablespoons butter. Add in a bag of cauliflower, broccoli, carrot mix, some celery if you have it, green beans, lima beans..what ever you have. The broccoli and cauliflower really sweeten it though! Add some onion. Let that boil until the veges are nice and tender. Stir in one or two cans of evaporated milk, depending on how creamy you want it. Add some pepper to taste. My brother tells me this will cure anything, and my children fully believe it does too! :-)

-- Cindy in OK (cynthiacluck@yahoo.com), December 01, 2000.

Hi, Fred! It looks like you have enough soup recipes here. All i can add is that you might add a few onion skins for color (pref. organic) and don't add salt until the soup is ready. Bottled water is nice, too. Also, I would use at least 3 or 4 onions and some dill. Try to use only fresh ingredients. Dumplings: I have heard that tortillas, cut into strips and added to soup, turn into dumplings. I haven't tried it, but it probably works. You might want to try making matzo balls, which are Jewish dumplings. The recipe on the back of the matzo meal box is fine. Adding a pinch of powdered ginger and some fresh dill and using club soda instead of water makes them even better. Bon appetit!

-- kathy (squeakywheel2000@aol.com), December 02, 2000.

The best chicken soup is made with homemade noodles. Settle for nothing less than the best. Homemade noodles are so easy to make and fun too. Put a bowl of chicken noodle soup (made with real home made noodles) on your head and your tongue will beat your brains out trying to get to it. ;-)

-- Kathy in Okla. (Booklady1940@yahoo.com), February 22, 2001.