Hús leves / Chicken Soup / Bone Broth

Hús Leves / Chicken Soup / Bone Broth

Credit: Marika’s Kitchen

Ingredients

  • 1/2 to Whole Chicken
  • 4-5 Beef bones with marrow
  • 1 lb chicken feet
  • 2 to 3 beef short ribs or ox tails
  • Quarts Water
  • 1 to 2 Onions, washed, with peel
  • 4 Cloves Garlic, peeled whole
  • 1 Green Bell Pepper, whole cored
  • 4 Carrots, halved or quartered
  • 6 Stalks Celery, halved (optional if you have parsley root)
  • 1 celery root peeled. and sliced or quartered
  • 1 Bunch Italian Parsley bouquet
  • 4 parsley roots (very hard to find)
  • 2 Red Potatoes, whole/peeled
  • 2-3 Tablespoon Salt
  • 2 tbsp Whole Black Pepper Corns

Directions

  1. Fill stock pot with 6 quarts water,(pot 3/4 way full) add chicken, meats and bones and bring pot to a slow boil, reducing to simmer and cook meats for approximately skimming foam from surface of water as it develops. Keep boiling (slow roll) and skimming till foam stops forming.
  2. Add onion, garlic, green pepper, celery, carrots, celery root, salt and pepper corns.
  3. Continue to simmer soup approximately 30 minutes, skimming any additional foam that forms on surface to maintain a clear golden yellow broth.
  4. Add potatoes and simmer long enough for potatoes to soften, 10 or 15 minutes.
  5. Pour broth through a Strain/sieve into clean pot
  6. Carefully transfer carrots, chicken pieces and potatoes to clear broth, or see note #5 for my preferred next step.
  7. I discard pepper, onion, garlic, celery, parsley bouquet and pepper corns but this is a personal taste issue. Keep and add back in whatever is preferred.
  8. I remove the chicken (especially the white meat after about an hour and place in covered dish to keep it from drying out)
    Notes:
  1. The whole or half chicken mentioned in ingredients can be replaced with bone in thighs, wings, backs. The point is, the more bones, the better. There are a lot of the essential nutrients within bones that provide nourishment to our bodies in the most natural and most digestible forms.
  2. I know the thought of chicken feet freaks a lot of people out. If you are freaked out by it, skip it. But the amount of natural collagen that can enrich your broth is worth researching and considering. I was raised with it and it doesn’t bother me but by all means, if it bothers you, skip it. Whole foods sells organic chicken feet in case you are wondering where the heck one might even find such a thing. 😉
  3. Parsley root is very hard to find. Often the Asian and Arab markets are the only chance you will have of finding it. Although parsley roots look like parsnips, they are not. See picture of what parsley roots look like. Sometimes larger farmers markets will have them. If you find it, buy as much as possible. Wash, dry and freeze for future use. It has been 7 months since the last time I found it and I have been searching ever since. If you can’t get it, don’t sweat it. Your broth will still be fabulous.
  4. I usually debone the breast meat out of the whole chicken and save that for other recipes since I find white meat gets too dry simmering so long in the broth. If you want it in there, watch it and get it out sooner rather than later, cover it with a little broth and cover your dish to keep it moist.
  5. I like to transfer the meat and veggies that I keep into separate containers and fill mason jars with the clear strained broth using a funnel and little fine strainer. Do not skim fat layer off soup/broth. It actually helps preserve and lengthen the shelf life of the broth as it forms a protective layer over the broth when it cools in the fridge. Seals it and keeps the broth away from oxygen. See pictures and google the length of time broth can last when covered with the cooled fat layer as a seal.
  6. For family members that enjoy the soup with noodles, meats and veggies, I debone, dice up and add them to some o the mason jars. Those will need to be consumed sooner because the flour in the noodles and the chicken and veggies are good for about a week in the fridge.
  7. Although I store the soups in mason jars, I do not preserve them/can them/seal them. I just enjoy storing foods in mason jars because they are handy. They store well, and they are great as lunches and as gifts to share with friends and family.

Noodle Directions

    If you enjoy noodles with your soup, here are the instructions for that.

    Noodles: Bende extra fine “cérna tészta”

  1. Bring pot of water to boil
  2. Add 1 tablespoon salt and 1/2 tablespoon oil to water
  3. When water is boiling, add noodles to water and stir to separate noodles.
  4. Cook noodles according to package instructions
  5. Strain in sieve and rinse through with cold water to cool noodles completely.
  6. Serve noodles separately in glass bowl and add to each soup bowl when serving.

Notes:
Bende noodles can be ordered online through Bende.com, a company out of Chicago or most European stores and some smaller chain stores like Jon’s Market carries the brand.

You might ask, does the brand really make a difference. For me, I would say, without a doubt, it makes all the difference. But it is a personal thing. Try a few brands and make up your own mind. ☺ The beauty of diversity.

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