Omi's Hühnersuppe (Grandma's Chicken Soup)

Another recipe from my mother's side, this soup includes just about everything in the garden. A rich, flavorful soup that is considered a necessity at my house during the cold, winter months or for a bout of the flu.

1 large roasting/baking hen (the bigger and older the chicken, the better the flavor)
1 celery root
1 bunch celery
1 bunch carrots
2 purple-top Turnips
1 Leek
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley
1 bunch green onions
3 Parsnips
1 large yellow onion
4 Bay leaves
Salt
Pepper
Noodles (Ditalini style or wide egg noodles)
Chives, chopped (optional)
*For a vegetarian version, exclude the chicken and add more carrots, celery, or other vegetables of choice.

Clean the hen, removing the neck, gizzards, and anything else on the inside. Rinse thoroughly with cold water. Put chicken, rear-end facing up, in a large stock pot. Clean the celery, carrots, turnips, onion, leek, and parsnips. Cut the vegetables into very large chunks and put into the stock pot, stuffing some of the veggies into the chicken. Scrub the celery root clean of dirt, or peel off the skin with a knife. Cut into quarters and add it to the pot. Rinse the parsley and green onions, adding them to the pot as well, along with the bay leaves. Salt and pepper to taste, and then fill the pot to the top with water. Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cook for two to three hours (do not cover with a lid whatsoever). Cook noodles while soup is cooking. After the soup is finished, separate the vegetables and chicken from the broth, throwing away inedible vegetables (celery root, turnips, yellow onion, leek, parsley, green onions, and bay leaves) and keeping the edible ones (celery, carrots, and parsnips). Separate the meat from the chicken and throw away bones, cartilage, and skin. Add vegetables, meat, and noodles into individual soup bowls, fill with hot broth, and garnish with chives

Stephanie Stiglmeier
Community Garden Intern