Mumsy's Super Chicken Soup ...p22

After a brief stint in the hospital, what should I serve the critic?  Chicken soup, of course.  Healing for the bones and warming to the heart, chicken soup dishes up comfort and better health for pennies on your health insurance dollar.  Though many argue over just why soup helps - be it the heat, the steam or the concentrated nutrients, few argue whether it does.  According to Dr. Mao, with soup you can lose weight, build your immunity and detoxify your body;

according to my husband, he just feels better when he eats soup. 



Mumsy's Super Chicken Soup packs in the nutrients above and beyond your traditional chicken soups by the addition of lots of vegetables and tomato juice, with just a wee bit of alcohol in the form of sherry, to clear the throat.  Which turned out to be the critic's reason for snickering just a bit at this soup, "it tastes too much like vegetable soup!"  "It's good, but not yum - I like just the traditional chicken soup." 

So once more, I have to disagree with the critic.  This is definitely one of my favorite soups - and don't be tempted to leave out the sherry - it really adds kick to the taste - in fact, if you can get a real bottle of dry sherry to use rather than the store-bought cooking sherry, all the better.  When prepping the vegetables, chop up the eggplant first and let it soak covered in salt water while you fry up the bacon and chop the remaining veggies - at least that's the way Mumsy always did it!

Sprinkle a little freshly grated Parmesan on top and you have a yummy - nontraditional - chicken soup.  Let us know whether you agree with the critic or me - leave a comment.

Hardy Appetit!
MUMSY'S SUPER CHICKEN SOUP

Not my favorite chicken soup!

1 3/4 lb. chicken breast
2 quarts water
4 onions, chopped
2 green peppers, chopped
3 T olive oil
4 zucchini, sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups tomato juice
1/2 lb. bacon, fried and cut
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup sherry
1 small eggplant, diced and salted
chicken bouillon
salt & pepper

Cook chicken in water about 3-4 hours.  Add dash of parsley, rosemary, and oregano while cooking.  Remove chicken, let cool.  Strain broth.  Fry bacon, add to broth.  Chop onions, add along with garlic to bacon grease.  Add tomato juice and bay leaves to grease and simmer for 4 min.  Add grease to broth.  Cook vegetables in 3 T olive oil until tender.  Add to broth.  Simmer for 30 min.  Add 1/2 cup sherry and simmer an additional five min.  Top soup with shredded Parmesan cheese.