Authentic Israeli Chicken Soup

This is my adapted recipe of authentic Israeli chicken soup after trying many Israeli recipes over my 20 years living in Israel. A good, hot bowl of chicken soup will cure what ails you! No seriously...there are medical reports...!!


1 whole 2-pound (1 kilo) chicken
Leaves and ends of whole bunch of celery
1 celeriac (optional), trimmed
2 carrots, washed and chopped roughly
2 potatoes, washed and quartered
1 onion, quartered



In a very large stock pot, add the first 6 ingredients and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil; skim off skum, cover, and reduce heat to simmer for about 3-4 hours - more or less, depending on your time. (If you use a crock pot, you can do this overnight.) 


Remove and discard all the vegetables; debone chicken when cooler. Add deboned chicken meat back to the soup stock.

Add to the Stock:

1 cup of chopped orange pumpkin squash (this is the Israeli secret...it really is a great addition)
6 cloves of garlic, minced (more or less, your preference)
Celery stalks with leaves, washed and chopped fine
2 carrots, washed, peeled, chopped fine
1 onion, chopped fine
2 Tablespoons of A-1 Sauce
1 Tablespoon of Worchestershire Sauce
Dash of Hot sauce
1-2 teaspoons of coarse Sea salt (to taste)
1 teaspoon of fresh finely ground pepper (to taste)

Procedure

After the stock has finished its simmering, saute the remainder cut up vegetables, seasonings (except sauces) in a large pan in olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add this mixture to the soup stock with the deboned chicken. Add sauces, and adjust salt and pepper. Bring to a boil again and simmer another 10 minutes until vegetables are fork-tender.

Options: Use less vegetables in the soup if you are adding any of the following: prepared matzah balls, dumplings, or thin/wide noodles the last 10 minutes of cooking.