Winter begs for the comfort of soup
I read in a magazine a few days ago that different perfume
fragrances are popular in different parts of the world. In India,
they prefer spicy scents. In Japan, woodsy and earthy smells win
out. In Latin America the perfumes are heavily influenced by
vanilla. In the United States, cologne-wearers tend to go for
fruity scents. The guess among the experts is that the scents one
is exposed to growing up are the ones they prefer as they get
older.
Winter begs for the comfort of soup
I read in a magazine a few days ago that different perfume fragrances are popular in different parts of the world. In India, they prefer spicy scents. In Japan, woodsy and earthy smells win out. In Latin America the perfumes are heavily influenced by vanilla. In the United States, cologne-wearers tend to go for fruity scents. The guess among the experts is that the scents one is exposed to growing up are the ones they prefer as they get older.
When I was a kid, it took me a while to realize that not everyone’s house smelled the same. My best friend’s house often smelled like spicy Thai food, since her mother was from Thailand. And another friend’s house smelled like deep fried oil. Friends always told me my house smelled like fresh laundry.
It is our sense of smell that can stop us in our tracks and more often than not those sensory memories are tied to foods. I can still smell the chocolate cookies my grandfather made that mixed cinnamon and baking soda even though he’s been gone for 15 years. And the smell of my mother’s homemade chicken soup simmering on the stove still makes me feel safe and warm.
The soup recipe is one that came out of necessity when my grandmother needed to feed six kids without a whole lot of money. Back then butchers gave out soup bones for free. It was a great way to make a broth, add a little tomato sauce and some vegetables, and have enough to feed the whole family.
The basic flavors for our recipe have stayed the same, though we have adapted through the years. When soup bones were no longer free, my mom and her sisters would often use a whole chicken as the base for the soup. The chicken could then be turned into chicken salad for sandwiches the next day. And as I got older we switched to using fat-free chicken broth to speed up the process, and boneless, skinless chicken breast to make the chicken salad healthier.
The best part of the homemade soup is the moment when the steam from the pot starts to scent the entire house. And even though there are half as many people in our house as in my mother’s when she was growing up, we still make a large pot and eat it for several meals. Even though its nearly 80 degrees as I write this, we had our first pot of soup of the season over a cold, rainy weekend a few weeks ago. And it smelled delicious.
Below are the homemade chicken soup, mashed vegetables and chicken salad recipe we get out of one pot.
Homemade chicken soup
32 oz. chicken broth
16 oz. water
2-8 oz. cans of tomato sauce
4 boneless, skinless chicken half breasts
2 turnips
2 rutabagas
1 c. baby carrots
1 stalk celery
1 onion, chopped
1 box pasta of choice (small shells or orzo work well)
Salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese
Bring broth and tomato sauce to a boil and add chicken. Reduce to a simmer and cook for two and half hours. Add onions, celery, and rutabagas. Cook for half an hour. Add turnips and carrots. Continue to cook until all vegetables are soft, about 45 min. to an hour.
Remove vegetables and chicken to a strainer. Bring soup to a boil and add pasta. Cook according to package directions. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once pasta is al dente, serve with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.
If planning to use the soup for more than one meal, use a smaller pot of broth to cook the pasta as the starch released in the pasta will thicken the soup by the next day.
Homemade chicken salad
4 cooked chicken half-breasts (from the soup pot)
½ c. onions, chopped
½ c. celery, chopped
¾ c. mayonnaise, or to taste
Salt and pepper
1 loaf wheat bread
In a food processor, chop up the chicken finely. In a bowl mix the chicken, onions, celery and mayonnaise. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spread on toasted wheat bread.
Mashed vegetables
After turnips, rutabagas and carrots are drained from the soup, mash them together with butter, salt and pepper to taste, adding a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. Onions and celery, used for flavor in the soup are often too mushy after cooking for so long, but feel free to add those as well.
