DIY Diva: Chicken Coconut Soup ala Kate
Mmmmmm... soupy!
Hey-o the DIY Diva here! Can you believe it’s already September? I totes magotes can. You wanna know why?
Because last week my housemate and I both came down with killer head and chest colds.
We spent most of Labor Day weekend laboring to cough phlegm out of our belabored chesties, wrapped in our No Sew Fleecie Blankies on our little red couch while watching reruns of Top Chef and The Rachel Zoe Project absolutely miserable that we couldn’t be out and about and having fun with the rest of our hipster friends.
Part way through the weekend I realized that what we really needed was some Jewish Penicillin. Thankfully, I had a chicken skeleton in the freezer from the last time I made a roast chicken for my housemates, and I whipped us up a big-steamin’ pot of yummeh Chicken Coconut Soup ala Kate.
Totally did the trick, by Tuesday morning we were both feeling right as rain!
It occurred to me that it IS the start of the cold and flu season – AND – maybe not everyone is as culinarily gifted as I am – SO – maybe sharing a DIY recipe for chicken soup might be appreciated.
This recipe is my own, though based on my Grandma’s chicken soup. It is dependent upon you having a chicken skeleton and parts in your freezer. Though I would think that it would go without saying that in this neo-eco world we live in that YOU should be using every part of the animals you are consuming. Personally, I save all bones and fat from the meat I eat (shut up, you sicko) to use in stocks and stews later on.
If you’re a veggie or a vegan you can substitute veggie stock and tofu in this recipe.
Chicken Coconut Soup ala Kate
What you need:
-One medium sized chicken skeleton w/some meat still on the bones
-The offal (liver, heart, spleen, neck) of the chicken
*This normally is shoved into the chest cavity of the chicken, pull it out before you cook it, put it in a baggie and save it in the freezer.
-A large stock pot
-A strainer
-A medium stock pot
-Four whole yellow onions (peeled – coarsely chop ONE of the onions and set aside)
-Five large carrots (washed and with the tops and bottoms cut off – peel and thinly chop ONE of the carrots and set aside)
-Five large cloves of garlic (peeled and smooshed)
-One teaspoon of crushed garlic
-Three Bay leaves
-A half of a pound of sliced mushrooms
-One lemon
-One large piece of ginger (peeled and smooshed)
-One whole and seeded large chili pepper
-Five stalks of celery (washed with the tops and bottoms cut off – thinly slice ONE stalk of celery and set aside)
-1/4 a cup of salt
-Pepper to taste
-One 12 oz can of coconut milk
-Cooked rice
How to do it:
-Throw the chicken skeleton, the offal, three yellow onions, three stalks of celery, the chili pepper, three whole carrots, the Bay leaves, half of the lemon (quartered), half of the salt, half the pepper and the whole garlic into your stock pot and fill to the top with cold water.
*If you are making a vegetarian version of this, use your medium stock pot and fill with veggie stock, the vegetables and two pints of water.
-Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer. Allow to cook for three to four hours, stirring every half hour.
*Taste your stock periodically. If it is coming out particularly watery, which just happens sometimes even when you’re doing everything exactly right, you can add pre-made chicken stock to boost the chicken flavor.
-When the chicken is falling off of the bone of the skeleton and the whole vegetables are soft to the spoon, strain the liquid of your soup into the medium sized stock pot, removing the solids in the strainer.
-Pull out the whole vegetables and save in a plastic container (they’re yummy to eat at a later point.)
-Set the chicken and offal aside to cool.
-Into the pot of liquid put your chopped celery, carrots and onion, the cooked chili pepper and the three Bay leaves (in your chicken stock pot), the crushed garlic, mushrooms, the juice from half your lemon and your remaining spices.
*If you like really spicy soup, add crushed red chili pepper flakes at this point.
-Bring the mixture to a boil again and allow to roll at the boil for about 20 minutes, until the liquid reduces by about 1/2 an inch in the pot.
-Reduce heat to a simmer and cover.
-Once your chicken is cool, separate the meat, fat and skin of the chicken from the bone. It should be fairly easy to do, best done by hand – the chicken should look a little like pulled pork. If you’re grossed out by the offal you can toss it or feed it to your dog or cat for a treat…
-Add your chicken back into your soup. Add the can of coconut milk.
*If you’re going veggie put the tofu in now!
-Cook covered at a low simmer for another 15-20 minutes.
-Serve over cooked rice with a slice of lemon to garnish.
YUMMEH! Happy Craf… uh, Cooking!
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