Hungarian Chicken Soup

OK. I promised you my Hungarian chicken soup recipe.  This is my mom's recipe. I think every family has its own recipe.

Growing up my family used food as a way to share stories, memories and love. Even now, when I eat certain foods I feel like I am that little girl sitting at the table with my brother and my paretnts. It is such a great feeling. 
In winter this was the soup I wanted. Nothing beats the winter chill like a steaming bowl of chicken soup.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 lb Stewing Hen (Mature Chicken)

5 quarts water

1 onion, unpeeled

3-4 cloves garlic

3 large carrots

3 parsley roots

1 small celery root

1 small kohlrabi

 small savoy cabbage

1 green pepper

1 teaspoon peppercorns

1 tbsp salt

 

Directions:

Fill up your stock pot with water (about 5 qt).  Just make sure there's enough room to add all of the ingredients.

Cut up the hen and place cleaned pieces into the cold water (I used chicken breast and neck). Add salt, peppercorns and bring to a simmer.

Don't let it boil. If you want a nice and clear soup you need to simmer it not to boil it. Skim foam from top with a spoon as soon as it appears. Let it simmer for about 1 hour.

Meanwhile clean the vegetables and cut them in large pieces.

Add all the vegetables and continue to simmer for another 2 hours on the lowest heat.

Adjust the seasoning, add chicken bulion if wanted to enhace the flavor.

 

Remove the meat and carrots into a bowl and strain the soup through a fine sieve. The soup should be clear and golden. Semolina dumplings, thin noodles or small dumplings are also added to the soup.

 

Serve soup hot with fresh ground pepper.

 

Notes:

An unpeeled yellow onion will make the soup golden.

Never boil the soup, just simmer. Don't put a lid on the pot, cook it uncovered.

Cook the dumplings or noodles in water and add it to the soup. If you cook them in the soup, you will end up with cloudy soup.

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Semolina Dumplings - Griz Galuska

One of my readers, Andrea asked me to put this recipe on the blog. This is how I make semolina flour dumplings for hungarian chicken soup. They are super fluffy and easy to make. This is the "formula":  make sure you use 4 tablespoon of semolina per 1 large egg (not medium or jumbo). You can cook them in the soup, my mother cooks the dumplings in simmering water and when they are done she transfer them to the soup. It's up to you. Good luck

Ingredients:

1 large egg

4 tablespoons semolina flour

a pinch of salt

 

Directions:

Bring water to a boil in a large pot.

 

Beat egg with salt in a bowl.

 

Add the semolina flour all at once and mix well. The mixture should be thick (like sour cream).

Let it rest for about 15 minutes. The semolina flour will absorb the egg.

 

Turn the heat to low. Using a teaspoon form dumplings and put them in the simmering water.

Don’t overcrowd. Cover with lid and cook dumplings on medium heat for about 5 minutes, flip them on the other side, put the lid back and cook for another 5-10 minutes, depending on the size of the dumplings.

Turn off heat and let them stay in the hot water for 10 more minutes.

 

Add cooked dumplings to the soup.

 

 

 

Note:

I don’t like to cook the dumplings in the soup because they will absorb the soup.

Some recipes call for butter, or oil, or you have to beat egg whites and then add the rest of the ingredients.

Use 1 large + 4 tablespoon of semolina to achieve the right consistency. Use measuring spoon.

You can measure the eggs and the semolina flour, so for a 70-75 g egg add about 50 g semolina.


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Ciorba de perisoare - Meatball Soup

Ingredients:

Broth:

3 medium carrots, sliced

3 medium parsley roots, sliced

1 celery stalk

1 green pepper, seeded

2 Tbsp oil

Water or vegetable broth

Bors - Romanian or Polish (or lemon juice) to taste

1/2 teaspoon lovage

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

Meatballs:

1 1/2 - 2 lb ground meat (pork)

1 handful rice

1 egg

1 small onion, chopped

1 teaspoon parsley, chopped

Salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

Add 2 tablespoons of oil into a  5.5 qt pot .Sautee the carrots in  oil on medium heat until the oil becomes orange, add sliced parsley and sautee for 5 minutes until the vegetables are softened. Add the water, whole celery stalk, whole green pepper and leave to boil for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the meatballs.

To make the meatballs, mix well by hand all the ingredients. With wet hands, take a little of this mixture at a time and make walnut-sized little balls. Add meat balls one by one to simmering soup, reducing heat to very low. Cook the meatballs in about 20-30 minutes on medium heat.

Make sure that the meatballs are cooked through, add bors or fresh lemon juice to taste. Season with salt and black pepper. Turn off heat and add chopped parsley and lovage (if you have). Remove the celery stalk and green pepper. Serve with a spoon of sour cream and a slice of fresh bread.

NOTE:
This soup comes in a variety of flavors and variations. You can make the meatballs with ground beef, turkey, chicken; add chopped meat; or use shredded vegetables; if you like the soup creamy you can do this:

In a bowl, mix 2 egg yolks with sour cream until well blended. Remove the soup from the flame and add the egg/sour cream mixture. Do not boil the soup after this or it will curdle.

 

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Green Bean Soup

 Ingredients:

2 lbs green beans, washed and cut in 1 inch pieces

1 cup of fresh beans (not dry beans) - optional

1 tomato
1 medium onion
1 small pepper seeded and quartered
2 sprigs parsley leaves
2 tbs vegetable oil

4 garlic cloves
1 tbs flour
1 tsp (sweet) paprika
3 tbs tomato paste
1 cup sour cream
salt to taste
black pepper to taste

Quick and Easy Pea Soup

Ingredients:
Chicken breast cut in small pieces
Bag of frozen green peas
2-3 carrots
1 garlic clove crushed
Small onion
Salt and pepper
Vegeta or chicken bullion cubes
4-5 sprigs of flat leaf parsley
Orzo pasta or home made dumplings (optional)

Hungarian Goulash Soup

Ingredients:

1 pound cubed beef (blade, neck or shin) - about ½-inch square

2 tbs lard

2 chopped onions

3 tbs paprika

2-3 cubed potatoes

2 carrots - sliced

1 green sweet pepper chopped

1 tomato - peeled and chopped

salt

pepper

1 tsp caraway seeds

Directions:

Saute the finely chopped onion hot oil or lard in a Dutch oven until golden brown. Add on the Hungarian paprika. Mix in the meat cubes and cook until brown on all sides, add the green pepper and tomato.

Add cold water, salt, pepper and caraway seeds. Cover it and leave it until boil. Then lower the heat and cook slowly, until the meat is almost tender. (aprox.1 ½ hour).

Add the carrots and a little later the potato cubes. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the vegetables and meat are tender.

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