Soup's

Lentil Soup Middle eastern

• 2 cups dried lentils, washed and drained
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 7 cups water
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 Tbs. flour
• 1/2 cumin
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 lemon, juiced

Place lentils and chopped onions in water, bring
to a boil; reduce heat, cover and simmer for 1
hour. Mix oil, flour, cumin, salt, and pepper
in bowl. Add 1/4 cup of hot soup; stir well.
Pour mixture back into soup and let simmer
until lentils are tender.

Add lemon juice and simmer 5 more minutes.
Garnish with lemon.

(SERVES 6)

Sephardic Chicken Soup

Jewish penicillin or liquid gold – whatever
you call it, it’s wonderful and good for almost
anything that ails you. The Sephardic version
contains spices not used in the Ashkenazi
versions. Here is a most interesting and
surprising twist on the familiar.

INGREDIENTS:

• 5 pounds Chicken parts
• 2 pounds Chicken Feet [optional, but will
  make a very rich, gelatinous stock]
  
• 2 large unpeeled Onions, quartered
• 6 Garlic cloves, crushed
• 12 Peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon Turmeric
• 3 whole Cardamom Pods
• 2 stalks Celery cut into 2-inch pieces
• 2 Carrots, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
• ½ teaspoon dried Thyme leaves
• 3 Parsley sprigs
• College Inn Chicken Broth to cover
• 1 pound Kosher for Passover thin Egg
  Noodles *
  

GARNISH:

chopped parsley and fried noodles

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
* made with Matzoh meal instead of flour,
they are available in some chain supermarkets
and all kosher markets.


DIRECTIONS:

1. Wash the chicken parts. Place them into a
   large stockpot. Cover with the chicken broth
   and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and skim
   the scum from the surface.
   


2. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer
   for 3-5 hours. Do not boil the soup or the
   fats will become amalgamated with the stock
   and you’ll have a cloudy soup, full of
   impurities. I like to put the partially
   covered pot into a 250° F oven so that the
   bottom doesn’t burn, the soup doesn’t boil,
   and I don’t have to watch it so closely.
   


3. Remove the pot from the oven and strain
   the chicken and vegetables out and discard
   all but the broth. Strain the soup through
   a fine sieve into a smaller pot set into a
   pot of ice water to cool the soup to room
   temp as quickly as possible. Place into
   covered plastic containers and chill
   overnight or at least several hours. Remove
   the layer of fat that forms on the chilled
   soup and either discard it or save it to rub
   over a chicken before roasting.
   


4. Reheat the soup before serving.


5. Meanwhile, fry the noodles in some chicken
   fat or oil until browned and crisp.
   


6. Put the noodles into the soup just as you
   are serving it.
   

PRESENTATION SUGGESTIONS:
Serve the soup in large soup plates, topped with
the fried noodles, and with finely chopped
parsley on the rims.


Serves: 12