Maurice Sendak wrote a delightful book about chicken soup with rice. Here is our favorite January recipe:
Ingredients
Serves 8
- 1 whole chicken (3 to 4 pounds), skin removed
- 1 1/2 pounds (9 to 10 medium) carrots, peeled and halved crosswise
- 1 pound (5 to 6 medium) parsnips, peeled and halved crosswise
- 4 celery stalks, thinly sliced crosswise
- 2 large onions (about 1 pound), , halved and sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 tablespoon whole peppercorns
- Coarse salt
- 1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice
- 6 scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced
Directions
- In a large soup pot, combine chicken, carrots, parsnips, celery, onions, bay leaves, garlic, peppercorns, and 1 teaspoon coarse salt. Add water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium. Simmer partly covered, occasionally skimming and discarding fat from surface, about 1 hour.
- With a slotted spoon or tongs, remove chicken, carrots, and parsnips from pot; set aside. Pour remaining contents of pot through a fine-mesh sieve into another large pot; discard solids, and bring broth to a boil. Add rice and white part of scallions. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer, uncovered, until rice is tender, about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, remove chicken from bones, and shred into bite-size pieces (discard any fatty or discolored parts). Cut carrots and parsnips into bite-size pieces. When rice is cooked, return chicken, carrots, and parsnips to broth in pot; add green part of scallions. Season generously with 5 to 6 teaspoons coarse salt. (To freeze, see note.)
From Everyday Food, October 2006
