The Best (Chicken) Soup Ever

ORDER OF DIRECTIONS

For the roasted vegetable broth: Line your baking sheet with foil, then seat the wire rack inside it. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

As you prep the following ingredients, arrange them on the wire rack. Some vegetable overlap is okay:

Peel the onions and reserve their skins for the pot; cut the onions into thick wedges.

Rinse and trim the celery and parsnips. Cut in half lengthwise, then into long chunks.

Rinse and trim the carrots. Cut in half lengthwise, then into long chunks.

Trim the fennel stalks, discarding the fronds. (You’ll roast the stalks, too.) Cut the fennel bulb into thick wedges.

Cut the head of garlic, the turmeric, and the leek in half horizontally. Rinse the leek well to remove any grit.

Transfer the filled rack (on its baking sheet) to the oven; roast for 25 minutes, turning it front to back halfway through. Some pieces should be lightly charred. If not, roast them a bit longer.

Meanwhile, fill your stockpot with 14 cups of water and place over medium heat. Toast the coriander seeds in your small skillet, over medium-low heat, for a few minutes until fragrant. Gather them on a cutting board; use the flat side of a chef’s knife to lightly crush them.

Cut the apple into thick wedges, discarding the core and seeds. Trim off the bottom few inches of dill stems.

Use tongs to transfer all the roasted pieces to the stockpot. Add any reserved onion skins, the apple wedges, dill, toasted/crushed coriander seeds, black peppercorns, and bay leaf. Once the liquid is bubbling at the edges, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 30 minutes.

Line your fine-mesh strainer with cheesecloth (double layer) and place the strainer over your large heatproof container.

Use tongs to remove/discard all the pieces from the pot. Carefully ladle in or pour the broth through the lined strainer. Let the broth cool to lukewarm temperature before you store it.

For the chicken stock option: You can do this while the vegetables are roasting, or when the roasted vegetable broth is simmering. Remove the skin from your rotisserie chicken; discard OR, if you want to make oven-crisped gribenes (see below), lay the pieces of skin flat on the wire rack you just used to roast the vegetables.

Use your hands or a small sharp knife to detach as much cooked chicken as you can from the bones, leaving the breast pieces intact. (Refrigerate in a covered container until ready to use.)

Place all the bones in your 3-quart saucepan. Add just enough water to cover them, which should be 3 or 4 cups, plus the bay leaf and black peppercorns. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, skimming off any foam on the surface. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 25 minutes, checking occasionally to skim off again.

Use the same technique to strain the stock (see roasted vegetable broth, above), into a smaller heatproof container. Once it’s lukewarm, cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled and quite gelatinous. The yield should be at least 2 cups.

For the optional oven-roasted gribenes: Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line your baking sheet with new foil, then seat the wire rack with the chicken skin inside it. Roast for 10 to 15 minutes, watching closely, until most of the pieces are firm to the touch. Let cool, where they will continue to crisp up. Break or cut into pieces for serving.

BONUS! To finish as chicken soup:

INGREDIENTS

6 to 8 cups of roasted vegetable broth (from above)

1 cup of chilled chicken stock (from above)

Sea salt

Fresh carrot slices

Bite-size chunks of skinned Peruvian chicken breast

Dried fine soup noodles OR cooked matzo balls

Fresh lemon juice

Fresh dill fronds, coarsely chopped

Oven-roasted gribenes (optional)

Heat the broth and chilled chicken stock in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Once it has heated through, add a pinch of salt and the carrot slices. Cook for 2 minutes, then stir in the soup noodles and chunks of chicken, if using. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, then taste and add enough lemon juice and/or more salt to brighten the flavors.

Just before serving, add the dill. Garnish each bowlful with some gribenes, if you like.

From Washington cook Bonnie S. Benwick.