Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (33 page)
MAKES ABOUT 4 CUPS
It is important to use a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or stockpot so that the vegetables caramelize properly without burning. Lemon grass is available in some grocery stores and most Asian markets. You can omit lemon grass if you cannot find it; the flavor of the stock will still be very good.
2 | onions, peeled and chopped |
1 | head garlic (10 to 12 cloves), cloves peeled and smashed |
8 | ounces shallots, sliced thin |
1 | celery rib, chopped |
1 | small carrot, peeled and chopped |
Vegetable oil spray | |
2 | pounds leeks, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise, chopped, and washed thoroughly |
8¹⁄ | cups boiling water |
Stems from 1 bunch fresh parsley | |
2 | bay leaves |
1¹⁄ | teaspoons salt |
1 | teaspoon black peppercorns, coarsely cracked |
1 | pound collard greens, sliced crosswise into 2-inch strips |
12 | ounces cauliflower, chopped fine |
8–10 | sprigs fresh thyme |
1 | lemon grass stalk, trimmed to bottom 6 inches and bruised |
4 | scallions, sliced into 2-inch pieces |
2 | teaspoons rice vinegar |
1.
Combine onions, garlic, shallots, celery, and carrot in 8-quart stockpot or Dutch oven; spray vegetables lightly with vegetable oil spray and toss to coat. Cover and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until pan bottom shows light brown glaze, 20 to 30 minutes. Add leeks and increase heat to medium; cook, covered, until leeks soften, about 10 minutes. Add 1¹⁄
2
cups boiling water and cook, partially covered, until water has evaporated to a glaze and vegetables are very soft, 25 to 35 minutes.
2.
Add parsley stems, bay leaves, salt, peppercorns, and remaining 7 cups boiling water. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to simmer; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer gently, covered, to blend flavors, about 15 minutes.
3.
Add collard greens, cauliflower, thyme, lemon grass, and scallions. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to simmer; reduce heat to low and simmer gently, covered, to blend flavors, about 15 minutes longer. Strain stock through large strainer into large bowl or container, allowing stock to drip through to drain thoroughly (do not press on solids). Stir vinegar into stock. (Stock can be refrigerated for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 2 months.)
To bruise lemon grass, smack stalk with back of large chef’s knife.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
For a full-flavored chicken soup recipe that we could make without taking all day, we began by browning a cut-up chicken to set the foundation for a flavorful base. Sweating most of the browned pieces (we reserved the breast meat for shredding into the soup) with an onion allowed the meat to release its flavorful juices quickly. Then we added water and simmered just 20 minutes longer. We cooked the breast meat in the broth to infuse both with flavor and keep the meat moist. Egg noodles (also cooked right in the broth), celery, carrot, onion, thyme, and parsley rounded out our classic recipe.
SERVES 6 TO 8
Make sure to reserve the chicken breast pieces until step 2; they should not be browned. If you use a cleaver, you will be able to cut up the chicken parts quickly. A chef’s knife or kitchen shears will also work. Be sure to reserve 2 tablespoons of chicken fat for sautéing the aromatics in step 4; however, if you prefer not to use chicken fat, vegetable oil can be substituted. Make sure to use a 6-quart or larger Dutch oven for this recipe.
STOCK
1 | tablespoon vegetable oil |
1 | (4-pound) whole chicken, breast removed, split, and reserved; remaining chicken cut into 2-inch pieces |
1 | onion, chopped |
8 | cups boiling water |
2 | teaspoons salt |
2 | bay leaves |
SOUP
2 | tablespoons chicken fat, reserved from making stock, or vegetable oil |
1 | onion, chopped |
1 | large carrot, peeled and sliced ¹⁄ |
1 | celery rib, sliced ¹⁄ |
¹⁄ | teaspoon dried thyme |
3 | ounces egg noodles |
¹⁄ | cup minced fresh parsley |
Salt and pepper |
1. FOR THE STOCK:
Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add half of chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer cooked chicken to bowl and repeat with remaining chicken pieces; transfer to bowl with first batch. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Return chicken pieces to pot. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until chicken releases its juices, about 20 minutes.
2.
Increase heat to high; add boiling water, reserved chicken breast pieces, salt, and bay leaves. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until flavors have blended, about 20 minutes.
3.
Remove breast pieces from pot. When cool enough to handle, remove skin from breasts, then remove meat from bones and shred into bite-size pieces; discard skin and bones. Strain stock through fine-mesh strainer into container, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible; discard solids. Allow liquid to settle, about 5 minutes, then skim off fat; reserve 2 tablespoons, if desired (see note).
4. FOR THE SOUP:
Heat reserved chicken fat in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, and celery and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add thyme and reserved stock and simmer until the vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
5.
Add noodles and reserved shredded chicken and cook until just tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in parsley, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve. (After skimming broth in step 3, shredded chicken, strained stock, and fat can be refrigerated in separate containers for up to 2 days.)
Substitute 1 leek, quartered lengthwise, sliced thin crosswise, and washed thoroughly, for onion and ¹⁄
2
cup orzo for egg noodles. Along with orzo, add 4 ounces trimmed asparagus, cut into 1-inch lengths, and ¹⁄
4
cup fresh or frozen peas. Substitute 2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon for parsley.
Add 1 zucchini, diced medium, to pot with onions, carrot, and celery in step 4, increasing cooking time to 7 minutes. Add 1 tomato, cored, seeded, and chopped, to pot along with broth in step 4. Substitute 1 cup small shells or macaroni for egg noodles and simmer until noodles are just tender. Substitute ¹⁄
4
cup
minced
fresh basil for parsley and serve with grated Parmesan, if desired.
STORING AND REHEATING SOUP
Soups, stews, and chilis make a generous number of servings, but it’s easy enough to stock your freezer with last night’s leftovers so you can reheat them whenever you like. First you’ll need to cool the soup, but as tempting as it might seem, avoid transferring hot soup straight to the refrigerator. You may speed up the cooling process, but you’ll also increase the fridge’s internal temperature to unsafe levels, which is dangerous for all the other food stored in the fridge. We find that letting the soup cool on the countertop for an hour helps the temperature drop to about 85 degrees; then the soup can be transferred to the fridge. If you don’t have an hour to cool your soup or stew at room temperature, you can divide it into a number of storage containers to allow the heat to dissipate more quickly, or you can cool the soup rapidly by using a frozen bottle of water to stir the contents of the pot. To freeze soups and stews in handy single servings, fill paper cups for hot beverages with a portion of cooled soup or stew, wrap well in plastic wrap, and freeze. To reheat soups and stews, we prefer to gently simmer them on the stovetop in a sturdy, heavy-bottomed pot, but a spin in the microwave works too. Just be sure to cover the dish to prevent a mess. And note that while most soups store just fine, those that contain dairy or pasta do not.
For soups that contain dairy or pasta, the dairy curdles as it freezes and the pasta turns bloated and mushy. Instead, make and freeze the soup without the dairy or pasta component included. After you have thawed the soup and it has been heated through, either stir in the uncooked pasta and simmer until just tender or stir in the dairy and continue to heat gently until hot (do not boil).
SERVES 6 TO 8
STOCK
1 | tablespoon vegetable oil |
1 | (4-pound) whole chicken, breast removed, split, and reserved; remain-ing chicken cut into 2-inch pieces |
1 | onion, chopped |
8 | cups boiling water |
Salt | |
2 | bay leaves |
¹⁄ | ounce dried shiitake mushrooms or other dried wild mushrooms |
SOUP
2 | tablespoons chicken fat, reserved from making stock, or vegetable oil |
1 | large carrot, peeled and sliced ¹⁄ |
1 | leek, white and light green parts only, quartered lengthwise, sliced thin, and washed thoroughly |
4 | ounces cremini or white mushrooms, trimmed and sliced thin |
¹⁄ | teaspoon dried thyme |
¹⁄ | cup cooked wild rice |
¹⁄ | cup minced fresh parsley |
Pepper |
1. FOR THE STOCK:
Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add half of chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer cooked chicken to bowl and repeat with remaining chicken pieces; transfer to bowl with first batch. Add onion and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Return chicken pieces to pot. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until chicken releases its juices, about 20 minutes.
2.
Increase heat to high; add boiling water, reserved chicken breast pieces, salt, and bay leaves. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until flavors have blended, about 20 minutes. Remove 1 cup of stock and pour over dried mushrooms and let sit for 30 minutes to rehydrate.
3.
Remove breast pieces from pot. When cool enough to handle, remove skin from breasts, then remove meat from bones and shred into bite-size pieces; discard skin and bones. Strain stock through fine-mesh strainer into container, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible; discard solids. Allow liquid to settle, about 5 minutes, then skim off fat; reserve 2 tablespoons, if desired (see note).
4. FOR THE SOUP:
Heat reserved chicken fat in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add carrot and leek and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add fresh mushrooms to pot with carrot and leek and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Drain and chop rehydrated dried mushrooms, reserving soaking liquid. Strain soaking liquid through fine-mesh strainer lined with coffee filter. Add thyme, reserved stock, chopped mushrooms, and strained mushroom soaking liquid and simmer until vegetables are tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
5.
Add rice and reserved shredded chicken and cook until just tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in parsley, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve. (After skimming broth in step 3, shredded chicken, strained stock, and fat can be refrigerated in separate containers for up to 2 days.)
