To cook or not cook chicken

As a rule, I don’t cook raw chicken at home. There is one exception to that rule: If it’s chicken soup it’s okay.

The fear of cooking raw chicken is a bit irrational, I know. I love chicken. One of the things I miss most when I became GF was deep fried chicken with crunchy skin that can only be achieved through dredging it with seasoned flour. [commence Homer Simpson drooling sounds.] Chicken can be a neutral vessel for any sauce but has it’s own distinctive taste and smell. What is there not to like about chicken? Nevertheless, the fear has persisted, even through some of my leanest days where chicken thighs were the most affordable protein available on my $1k a month income.

The few occasions I have cooked chicken at home, it involved disinfecting the entire kitchen area right afterwards and scrubbing my hands raw. I know where the fear originated. I read somewhere, a long time ago, that the liquid from packed chicken carry salmonella and because you can’t see where the droplets end up on the counter it could contaminate other foods. I hate food poisoning. Okay, no one likes food poisoning, I get it, but I know this was the start of it all.

Chicken soup is different, especially when making it in a slow cooker or pressure cooker. Minimal touching, no cutting of the meat, and you can press a button and it’s all done!

Sonya’s Magic Chicken Soup

This name was gifted to me by a friend. He had heart surgery and I made pots of this soup for him during his recovery. Of course, the turmeric was left out (it’s a blood thinner).

Ingredients:

• 1/4 olive oil
• 3 lbs of chicken, skin on and bone in, always. That’s where all the good flavor is.
• 1-2 large onions, chopped
• 1 bulb of garlic, each clove cut in half (make sure to discard the sprouts if it’s older)
• Equal amount of ginger to garlic, julienned
• 1-2 lemons, zested, then cut in half/quartered.
• 1-2 bay leaves
• A good amount of turmeric powder or equal amount of turmeric root to ginger/garlic, julienned
• 1-2 Tbsp kosher salt
• Herbs and spices to taste
• Water to cover

Method:

1. Heat the oil in pan or directly in the pressure cooker if it has a “Sauté” option. Sear the chicken until it’s translucent. It won’t be cooked through.
2. Squeeze lemon juice over chicken and throw in the rinds. Add all other ingredients on top of the chicken.
3. Add water so that the ingredients are covered by about 2 inches of water at least.
4. Cover and cook until meat falls off the bones. For a slow cooker, it’s on “High” for 10 hours. In a pressure cooker, it’s “Soup” for 37 minutes.
5. While the soup is cooking, disinfect all surfaces–pretty much anywhere chicken juice may have landed.
6. Once the cooking is done, discard chicken skin and bones, bay leaves, and lemon.
7. Season to taste.

Other additions/options:

• Add a whole habanero pepper for a spicy version.
• Fresh lemongrass, if you can find it, perks up the soup.
• Korean pear, peeled and chopped. It will dissolve in the broth. Not Asian pear; Korean pear.
• If you have dried mushrooms on hand (dried shiitakes are a pantry staple for me), you can steep the mushrooms in boiling water and use the mushroom water as some of the liquid. Alternatively, you can add dried mushrooms into the pot with the other stuff and have it reconstituted while cooking.
• You can take out all the meat and bay leaves (also any twigs from fresh herbs or lemongrass) then use an immersion blender to blend the broth with the lemon. Add shredded chicken after blending. It makes a thicker and lemonier soup.
• I generally don’t like too much other stuff in my chicken soup, but diced carrots, celery, fennel, potatoes. etc. should all work.