Stone Soup is a story with no copyright – and many versions are available at the library – because it arose from the wars in Europe. Food was taken and used by the armies, and because it was very hard to come by, it was, of course, hoarded. As the story goes, a person – perhaps a very hungry soldier on his own as Grandpa was, put on a pot of water to boil and added a stone to the pot. He then asked if anyone had a potato, for example. As people added what small piece of food they had, it became a real soup that everyone could partake of.
Grandpa was such a soldier/ spy who infiltrated Russia and had to live off the land. He lived on the family farm till he was about age 14; the war had begun and he said he was a year older so that he could join the army. He was tall, strapping and intelligent – and they really needed so-called “men” for the war. He ate rather simple food when he lived at home, but he ate even more simply as a soldier.
One of the soups he liked – which was very much like Stone Soup – was the Chicken Soup/ Rosol which Grandma made. At that time, she would buy a clutch of vegetables called “soup greens” at the corner grocery store, which included a piece of celery, a carrot, parsley with the root, etc – and would then add a cut-up chicken, the eggs which were forming in the chicken, and often tomatoes.
Martha Stewart once had a guest doing his Chicken Soup on her show. He did a quick and easy Noodle Szmata (rag noodle) as his grandmother did. But when he added a hard-boiled egg – she asked “Why?” I was rather surprised because I thought she would know why. He, too, did not know why when he said: “…because Grandma did that.” Ah, the days of yore! Did you see the Geico tv advertisement (one of many), which featured the white rooster, Foghorn Leghorn, who was forever (as in old comic books) pursued by a very small Chicken Hawk with a very large club.
“That’s what Grandma did” reminded me of the story a man told – his wife would cut off the end of the ham and put it into another bake pan – she then proceeded to roast both of them. She said her “…mother did it that way.” Of course her mother had a real reason to do it that way, which was because the only roasting pan her mother possessed was not big enough. People did not have available to them the myriad cookware that is now available at much lower prices – and her mother’s may even have been spatter-ware as was Grandma’s.
The added egg also actually came about for a real reason. When Grandpa no longer had the grocery store with live chickens, Grandma would buy a chicken at the “Chicken Store” on Chicago Avenue where they still had sawdust on the floor. At that time the chickens often had yolks in various stages of becoming eggs, and these, of course, would go into the soup.
Following is the chicken soup recipe I developed over a period of time, based on Grandma’s original recipe. But, of course, this version has been developed with the abundance of foods now available to us, although the ingredients are still basic. It is very good, and Hannah really, really likes this soup. We use half of a chicken which is left-over from our Roast Chicken – or Chicken Breast Halves (skinless and boneless) can be used. The recipe for our roast chicken will be forthcoming on a “soon” blog.
Chicken Soup
A leftover half of chicken – use all juices – dice about 1/2 to 3/4″ Or
5 chicken breast halves – all skin and bones removed – dice about 1/2 to 3/4″
5 to 6 cups water
2 1/2 teaspoons chicken bouillon paste or equivalent bouillon powder
1 1/2 cups well chopped onion
1 1/2 cups small diced carrots
1 1/2 cups small diced celery including leaves
3 Tablespoons of well chopped parsley
3 medium/ small cloves garlic, well minced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
salt as desired
Cook the chicken covered with the water and bouillon. Bring to a boil and simmer 15 to 20 minutes – shorter time for the leftover roast chicken and the longer time for the raw breast meat. Remove chicken and dice about 1/2 to 3/4″. Skim the liquid. Add the vegetables to the liquid – bring to a boil and simmer 10 to 15 minutes. If using noodles, add 1 1/2 cups of fresh cut up noodles or 6 ounces of packaged dry curly noodles to the broth and cook about 8 – 10 minutes. Add 1 or more hard cooked eggs (with shells removed), if desired. Add bouillon, herbs and spices – bring to a boil. Add the chicken back to the soup and bring to a low boil – cook for about 5 minutes to heat through before serving.
For Cream of Chicken Rice Soup, I add a roux of flour and butter – and add cooked brown rice – in appropriate amounts.
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