Yes – it’s true. I made chicken soup for my very first time.

How did this happen? The answer is simple: My kitchen has been dairy since 1990. Therefore I made the chicken soup in my boyfriends’ kitchen.

What inspired me? Several things: a) the Jewish New Year is around the corner b) the temperatures are cooling outside and c) there was a 3 day sale for fresh whole chickens at Longo’s!.

To be honest, it was my first time even buying a whole chicken.

As for the recipe: I did my research online and chatted with several friendly chefs. (um, I harassed at least 3 people). LOL

I decided to try two recipes:

Recipe #1 – How to Make Roasted Brown Chicken Stock, from www.simplebites.com

I chose this blog post as she is a respected food blogger (that I’m pretty sure I met many years ago) and I loved her 7 tips that she included in her blog post. Click here.

Here’s the recipe for Roasted Brown Chicken Stock – taken from Simple Bites.

Ingredients
10 chicken carcasses (I was nervous and only bought 3 and then reduced the recipe)
3 gallons cold water, approximately
2 large onions, peeled
1 large leek, washed (oops forgot this ingredient)
4 sticks of celery, washed
2 medium carrots, peeled
2 bay leaves
6-8 garlic cloves (00ps – forgot this ingredient too)
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorn
Handful of fresh parsley
2 springs of fresh thyme
2 tablespoons tomato paste (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F.
Do not rinse the bones, but place them directly in a large oiled roasting pan.  I brushed them with tomato sauce for more flavour and colour.

Roast the bones, turning once with a sturdy pair of tongs, until the bones caramelize, approximately 1 1/2 hours. Do not let them burn, or your stock will be bitter. (easy peasy)

Roughly chop the onion, leek, celery and carrots and toss them with a little oil.
Place them in another oiled roasting pan or sheet, and roast alongside the bones until lightly caramelized, approximately 25 minutes.

Remove bones from oven and transfer to a large stock pot. There will be a pool of fat at the bottom of the pan which you can drain off before deglazing the pan, or you can add it to your stock. It will only add more flavor to the final product.

Add a few cups of cold water to the roasting pan to deglaze it, and use a solid spatula to lift off the remaining food particles on the bottom of the pan and all the flavor they bring. Add mixture to the pot with the bones.

Add roasted vegetables herbs, garlic, peppercorns and bay leaves to the pot of bones. Fill pot up with cold water until the ingredients are just barely submerged and place on stove burner.

Bring stock to a boil — and reduce heat immediately. Simmer slowly for 6-8 hours, occasionally skimming excess oil or scum off the top. You don’t need to babysit it much, just make sure it is at a temperature where it will will simmer, but not boil.
Using a sturdy Spider Skimmer, dip into the large pot and fish out the bones.

When you have fished out all the large ingredients, strain the broth through a fine sieve into a sturdy bucket or another pot. ( I chose to keep the veggies)

If you have the time and patience, strain the stock a second time through a cheesecloth to further remove impurities. (I didn’t do this)

Final Result…the bowl on the right!!

Next week, I will share Recipe #2 wth you to explain how I made the bowl on the left.

Stay tuned!!