Chicken Soup With Rice, Lemon, Dill and Red Pepper Flakes

When I taught school in a small Indiana town, a Greek family opened a small restaurant and made a wonderful chicken soup with dill, lemon and red pepper. Sometimes it had  meat, sometimes it didn't. After trial and error, the following is pretty close. 

• 6 cups homemade chicken stock  Kitchen Bounty: Chicken/Turkey Stock
• 1 stalk celery cut up/diced
• 1 1/2 peeled carrots, thick parts cut lengthwise and then thinly sliced
• A few pinches of dried thyme flakes
• 1-3 teaspoons Kosher salt or to taste
• 1 teaspoon or so of dried minced onion (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon finely minced fresh garlic
• 3-4 strips of lemon zest (or to taste) that has been peeled with a vegetable peeler, reserved
• A few pinches red pepper flakes, reserved
• 6-8 tablespoons raw, white, long grained rice that has been washed and rinsed in a sieve under cold water until the water runs clear. Or use Orzo.
• 1-3 teaspoons dried dill according to taste, reserved
• Diced chicken meat (optional) I usually leave it out

Bring the above ingredients just until they begin to boil. Lower to a simmer and cover for 40 minutes or so, stirring occasionally and tasting and seasoning as you go.

About ten minutes before serving, turn onto the lowest setting add the reserved lemon peel, dill, and pepper flakes. Just let the soup sit partially covered so all the flavors blend.

You can always leave the soup as is and serve lemon, dill and pepper on the side.

NOTES:

Rinse the rice to get rid of the starch that can interfere with the broth’s taste.

By all means go ahead and use fresh dill, especially as a garnish, but you will need several teaspoons. Place leftover dill between paper towels to dry and store in a leftover spice jar. This works well with any fresh herb.

Begin with just a pinch or two of red pepper flakes—you can always add more. It will take a while for the “heat” of the flakes to be released into the soup as it simmers, so keep that in mind before deciding to add more.

One-Pot Rice and Chicken (Easy Risotto)

This one-pot meal is really like a creamy risotto
but without all the stirring and standing over the stove.
You'll keep going back "for just a bit more."

I've made this several times now and I'm hooked. Do not attempt to prepare this with regular, long-grain rice. Why? It will turn out "mushy" opposed to "creamy." The Arborio rice gives it an unctuous, risotto-like consistency. To make it more frugal, I buy skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs and de-bone and skin them myself saving the scraps to the freezer for use in soup stock later. A heavy-bottomed pan will ensure that the rice doesn't scorch. I use an enamel-lined, cast-iron Dutch oven. this recipe is not time consuming and one could cut the veggies and chicken the night before to make things go even faster.

I do recommend using your own homemade chicken/turkey stock and using a quality cheese you grate yourself.

• 1 large carrot, roughly cut
• 1 celery rib, roughly cut
• Shallots equivalent to about a 1/2 medium onion, roughly cut
• 1-2 cloves garlic, roughly cut

Place the above four ingredients in a small food processor and pulse just until chopped. You don't want a paste. You want one cup. A bit more is just fine. I leave some carrots in slices just for presentation.

• 1 cup chopped mushrooms
• 3 cubed, skinned and deboned raw chicken thighs, cut into chunks, about one cup or 8 ounces.
• 1 heaping cup raw Arborio rice
• 1 teaspoon dried onion flakes
• 2 1/2  - 3 cups chicken stock

• 1/2 cup dry white wine (don't omit)
• 1/2 cup or more grated Parmessan cheese or similar
• 3-4 tablespoons unsalted butter (not margarine)
• Freshly chopped parsley

Add the chicken stock in a 3-4 cup measuring cup. Place in microwave and nuke until hot, about 5 minutes. 

Heat a bit of olive oil in a heavy pan. And the vegetable mixture and chopped mushrooms and sautee until softened and steam begins to dissipate. Push to one side in the pan and add the cubed chicken. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper. After a few minutes, mix with the vegetable mixture until all is caramelized and meat begins to brown. It doesn't have to cook through at this stage.

Add the white wine. Stir and allow to reduce a bit. Add the HOT chicken stock. stir. Add the dried onion flakes and stir. Now add the rice. Bring back to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and allow to cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. How easy and fast what that?!

If too much liquid remains, remove cover and allow to simmer. But you want some liquid because Arborio rice absorbs quite a bit of liquid even after it's done. When a flat-bottomed wooden spoon leaves a visible path when scraped along the bottom of the pan, it's usually done.

Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Remove from heat. Add butter and stir until melted. Now add the grated cheese.

If you want it creamier, just add a bit more of the reserved chicken stock.

Mix. Sprinkle with the parsley and mix. Serve with more cheese if desired.

NOTES: I've made with yellow onion but prefer the shallots. I've made it without the dried onion but prefer to add it for extra taste. This reheats very well and is even better the next day. If you've allowed it to get too thick, no problem--just add a bit more stock. Arborio rice is very forgiving. It's like a sponge.