Chicken soup
Famous Australian chef Maggie Beer (73) revealed the secrets she uses to prepare the perfect chicken soup and what are the mistakes that lead to the loss of taste.
In an interview with Kitchen.Nine.com, Maggie Beer, famous for her cookbooks, revealed some tricks for a delicious chicken soup.
The chef notes that she likes to cook using mainly celery, parsnips and beets, which she believes are among the healthiest vegetables. As for herbs, she prefers parsley.
The main beer tricks when making chicken soup are:
• Bake the vegetables for a while, with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, before adding them to the soup. “If you cook them, the vegetables will taste much better and have a nicer color,” said the expert.
• If you choose to add barley, cook it separately and add it at the end, otherwise you risk making a polenta. Lentils or chickpeas are preferred, for a better taste.
• Choose an “older” and “healthier” chicken, based on the saying “an older hen makes good soup”. “An older chicken has tastier meat. And it’s more important that it be grown as naturally as possible,” says the chef, who also specifies to cook everything with the skin.
• The fire must be moderate and the soup must not boil for the same reason: it loses flavor. “The meat will harden and become tough if the soup reaches its maximum boiling point. If it is kept over moderate heat, it won’t lose its flavor,” says Beer.
Maggie Beer PHOTO Gulliver / Getty Images