Passover isn’t exactly known for great food. But just because you are cooking without flour doesn’t mean you can’t have lots of good stuff. If you want to go with traditional Jewish food, sure, you are going to have to skip the knishes, but you can have chicken soup–from scratch. This is my mom’s family’s recipe, straight from the shtetls of Russia. You can’t get more authentic than that.
Vinack Family Chicken Soup
- 1 lb carrots
- 1 bunch celery (leafy; the more and darker the leaves the better)
- 3 good-sized chicken legs (thigh & drumstick) with skin on (the yellower and fattier the better)
- 1 tbsp salt
Lay down chicken legs at the bottom of a large pot. Fill with water to 1-2 inches below the rim. Boil on medium-high heat.
Peel carrots and chop into 1/2″ pieces. Put into pot.
Cut leafy tops off celery and put into pot. Cut remainder of celery stalks into 1/2″ pieces and put into pot.
Once the water starts to boil, ‘dirty’ foam will rise to the top of the water. Skim it off with a skimmer.
Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer for 5 hours. Check it periodically to make sure water isn’t too still (turn up heat slightly) or too low (turn down heat slightly and add more water). Add the salt.
Remove celery leaves. Ladle broth and veggies into bowls. Remove skin and bones from the chicken. Add the remaining pieces of chicken meat to bowls, too.
You can also incorporate onions into this recipe (with the carrots & celery). For non-Passover times, you can include egg noodles. Cook them according to package instructions, drain, and put into each soup bowl when ready to serve. Do not put/leave noodles into the pot – the starch from the noodles will mess up the soup.
Keep the remainder in the fridge or freeze for future use. Enjoy!
Also, for a Passover-friendly dessert, check out the Toffee Bark recipe. Just substitute matzoh instead of Graham crackers and bam! Delicious.
