Triple Essence of Chicken Soup

The essence of cure-the-cold chicken soup, merely bending your head over the steaming bowl will make you well.

The concept of escalating chicken broth into an essence of chicken by making a broth with one chicken, using that broth to cook another chicken, and that broth to cook a third chicken was born out the days when I was a kitchen slave to a French chef and had to do buckets of double consommé. This recipe lifts the idea up an echelon, and skips the clarifying you have to do for clear consommé.

You want organic ingredients for optimum good-for-you quality. You also should know you are going to cook the chicken until it's ragged and tasteless and has given its soul to the broth. Tomato and garlic lend another layer of taste to the soup.

Cook to Cook: Plan on making the broth over the weekend so each of the three batches can cook its 8 to 12 hours, then chill, be defatted and become the liquid for the next batch. Each broth takes 15 minutes of effort and 8 to 12 hours with only occasional attention. The broth freezes six months, and holds in the refrigerator for 4 days. Season to taste when serving.

Ingredients

• Three 4 1/2- to 5-pound chickens, or a mix of chicken, wings, and backs (organic chicken is a significant asset here)

• About 6 quarts cold water

• 6 medium onions, trimmed of root ends and coarsely chopped (do not peel)

• 3 large carrots, coarsely chopped

• 3 medium stalks celery with leaves, coarsely chopped

• 3 whole heads garlic, trimmed of root ends and halved horizontally

• 6 whole cloves

• 6 drained canned tomatoes

Instructions

1. Cut up one of the chickens, cracking bones with a cleaver if possible. Place in a tall 8 to 10-quart pot. Add enough cold water to come to within 2 inches of the lip of the pot. Bring the water slowly to a simmer. Skim off all foam. Add 1/3 of the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, cloves, and tomatoes.

2. Simmer, partially covered, 8 to 12 hours, stirring occasionally. Do not boil broth. Keep the liquid bubbling very slowly. Add boiling water if the broth reduces below the level of the solid ingredients. Keep them covered by 1 to 2 inches of liquid

3. Cool broth about 45 minutes, strain, and chill. Once fat has solidified on the top of the broth, remove it.

4. Use this broth instead of water to do the same process again with 1/3 of the remaining ingredients. Add water if necessary to keep ingredients covered. Once this broth is chilled and defatted, finish by doing the last batch. Freeze the broth in assorted sized containers. Season it when you heat it up.

Using Triple Essence Chicken Soup:

• Pure Soup for a Cold: Heat up broth, season to taste with salt, pour into a mug and sip. A few chopped celery leaves are good in this

• Asian Style Broth with Slivered Greens: A good tonic for cold weather. Heat 2 to 3 cups of broth with a generous teaspoon each of minced fresh ginger and garlic, a star anise or a few anise seeds, and 1/4 teaspoon Thai fish sauce. When hot, drop in a mixed cup of thin sliced Bok Choy or Napa cabbage and fresh coriander, and 2 whole scallions. Finish by squeezing in fresh lime juice.

• White Wine Broth with Peas and Basil: Boil 1/3 cup dry white wine 2 minutes, add 3 to 4 cups broth, and heat to a simmer. Season to taste. Grate in a little nutmeg. As you serve the soup, drop in 1 cup of frozen tiny peas and 6 fresh thinly sliced basil leaves. At the table, sprinkle each serving with a generous tablespoon of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.