jewish chicken soup

Ingredients: the remains of a chicken, roasted and eaten

2 onions

3 ribs celery

3 carrots a head of garlic a parsnip or two for the end: a lemon's worth of juice, parsley optional: a package of egg noodles

Make the broth as written below. After 2 hours of simmering, chop all the vegetables nice and small. Pull out the chicken. Put in the vegetables. Let it cook another hour. Pull the meat off the bones and put it back in. Cook the noodles in another pot. Add to soup and serve with parsley & lemon.

Sometimes, the only thing one can do is make chicken soup. The right way, the old way, with onions and celery and parsnips and an old chicken, boiled slowly, with only the barest hint of bubbles, so the broth turns out clear and rich. Skim the scum and foam with a tarnished spoon, add salt. Let it soak into your apartment. Invite your grandmother in. Give her a seat in your softest chair. Tell her how much you wish you could be on her linoleum floor again. Sometimes, all you get is the soup, the ghost of love in your nose.

Finishing Touches

To top a soup with a flourish, make it an occasion, a celebration, something more than comfort. Sprinkle, drizzle, splash and glorify. You get to decide what goes on each soup.

a bunch of parsley, a lemon's worth of zest, two cloves of garlic, chopped fine

3 cloves of garlic, sliced thin and simmered in half a cup of olive oil on low heat for 15 minutes a bunch of cilantro, 4 scallions, chopped fine. mix with the juice of one lime. small chunks of bread, tossed with a little salt and pepper and enough olive oil that they're not soaked but you can see a little shine on each piece. sprinkled with any sharp cheese, grated. broil for 2-4 minutes, depending on how good your broiler is. equal parts toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, and hot sauce toasted nuts & a sage leaf, chopped fine