Kay Spicer, food writer and author of the cookbook Light & Easy Choices (Grosvenor House Press Inc., 1985), has three grown-up children who each have a different favourite dish. Son Bob goes for scalloped potatoes baked with pork chops, a dish that harks back to his mom's Prairie roots. Daughter Patti says rice pudding is her favourite ("no contest,"), and home economist daughter Susan Spicer Angrove opts for chicken soup, saying, "We all used to beg her for chicken soup." Fresh-tasting and tomatoey, it's a memory-making soup.
- Portion size 10 servings
Ingredients
Soup:
Stock:
Method
Stock: Place chicken and all giblets except liver in stockpot or large saucepan. Pour in enough cold water to cover chicken; add celery and carrot. Stick cloves into onion; add to pot with peppercorns, bay leaf and salt. Bring to boil, skimming off foam. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, for 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until chicken is very tender and juices run clear when thigh is pierced. Let cool; refrigerate for 2 hours or until fat congeals on top.
Skim off fat and discard. Warm stock over low heat until stock liquifies. Remove chicken and reserve. Strain stock through cheesecloth-lined sieve into large bowl, pressing vegetables to extract as much flavor as possible. Discard vegetables and spices. (Stock can be made ahead and refrigerated for 3 days or frozen for up to 4 months.)
Soup: Dice celery, onion and carrot. Add to stock along with tomatoes, rice and tomato paste. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until rice is cooked and vegetables are tender-crisp.
Meanwhile, remove skin and bones from chicken. Reserve white meat for other use, if desired. Chop dark meat; add to soup and heat. Taste and adjust seasoning.
