I often make chicken soup the haimische way. I doubt that my Yiddishe forebears used a pressure cooker, but I do. Everything else, including the dumplings is authentic. Recently I was doing everything in the normal way, but the pressure cooker had some kind of mid-life crisis. It blew exaggerated clouds of steam from the top of the lid, and I could not tell why. I rummaged through the drawer where we keep user manuals. I found blender, grinder, food processor, pasta, ice cream, yoghurt and bread making machines, but nothing for the pressure cooker. I took up my iPhone and logged onto the manufacturer’s website, where I found lots of information about pressure cookers – what are they made of; are they safe; what is the basic principle of pressure cooking. What was missing were the basic instructions I needed. A diagnostic tool would have been very helpful; one which asked, “Can you see steam escaping from the valve?” “If so check this.” I began to examine the reasons for my sense of frustration and disappointment. There was a mismatch between what I needed, and what was actually there. I could follow the link to email for an answer to my question, but my kitchen was like a Turkish Bath NOW.
And that is how things are. We have come to require and expect instant and accessible information at the time and place we need it. It is inconceivable to imagine me, or anyone for that matter, going on a Basics of Pressure Cooking course before we use our pans. It does not fit my personal style to study the manual cover to cover before I begin to make soup. I’m a just-in-time, not a just in case learner. In the event, I was fortunate to find the leaflet for my pressure cooker. A diagram on page two clearly showed that some kitchen gremlin had inserted the valve upside down, and once corrected, the cooker behaved impeccably and my soup and sanity were secured.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
What is your recipe for chicken soup “the heimische way”?
I’m very unusual in that I really do read the manual when I get a new device. I love to know about all the features in a structured way. Most people I know just play with it until it works. I reckon they miss most of the best features as a result.
Unusual indeed, Clive – I seldom read manuals until I run into a difficulty. I wonder if our contrasting approaches are to do with nature or nurture?
Trivial, I know, but since my posting “learning under pressure”, some readers have asked me for my grandma’s recipe for chicken soup. We called it Jewish penicillin. My Bubba didn’t measure anything. She used “ein bissel this and ein bissel that”. There was always something on the stove. In a more health conscious age, make chicken soup in advance and leave it in the fridge so you can skim the “schmaltz” before you eat it.
INGREDIENTS
1. A whole chicken.
2. Onions – 3 medium onions left whole.
3. Carrots – half a dozen large ones cut into 3cm chunks.
4. Celery Stalks – 3 or 4 washed and the ends trimmed.
5. Salt and pepper.
6. Vegetable stock cube or bouillon.
METHOD:
1.Clean and joint the chicken, removing unnecessary fat.
3.Layer the chicken pieces in the bottom of the presssure cooker.
4.Add COLD water to a level about 4cm above the chicken.
5.Throw in a teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper.
6.Close the pressure cooker lid and heat on high until boiling.
7.Add the pressure cooker weights.
8.Reduce heat and cook for 40 minutes.
9.Depressurise and allow soup to cool.
10. Transfer to a fridge container and cool overnight.
11. Skim off fat.
12. Reheat.
13. Eat your soup, already!
Now if you want to know about my kneidlach…