Who Needs a Doctor When You Have Grandma's Chicken Soup Recipe?
Chicken soup is supposed to be the great cure-first aid for whatever ails you. And if you have the flu, you certainly need all of the help you can get in fighting off what's got you curled and whimpering on the couch.
Back in the mid 1990s, and again in the early 2000s, researchers at the University of Nebraska Medical Center decided to put Grandma's chicken soup recipe to the test.
In the study, Dr. Stephen Rennard tested his grandmother's actual recipe used for generations to keep the family healthy -- or ease the symptoms if a family member did catch a bug.
He cooked up three different batches of soup, some with his Grandma's ingredients—some without. The idea was to check the disease fighting characteristics of the soup in a laboratory setting.
It was a great study for all of us, since it showed that his Grandma's chicken soup actually does help ease the misery of illness -- and it wasn't just in the test tube. In other words, there is more than simple psychology involved here.
Dr. Rennard's group believes it is the combination of antioxidants, amino acids, vitamins and other good stuff that does the trick.
A third study, as if we really need one to confirm the wisdom of grandmas, was done in 2011, and found the same result, and easing of misery.
Even better, the research found that even though Grandma's is best (it always is), different recipes, even commercial stuff in a can is effective in beating back flu germs.
But for the sake of feeling better physically and psychologically, here is the actual recipe as used in the original studies:
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Ingredients:
1 5- to 6-pound stewing hen or baking chicken
1 package of chicken wings
3 large onions
1 large sweet potato
3 parsnips
2 turnips
11 to 12 large carrots
5 to 6 celery stems
1 bunch of parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Clean the chicken, put it in a large pot and cover it with cold water. Bring the water to boil.
- Add the chicken wings, onions, sweet potato, parsnips, turnips, and carrots. Boil about 1 and a half hours. Remove fat from the surface as it accumulates.
- Add the parsley and celery. Cook the mixture about 45 min. longer.
- Remove the chicken. The chicken is not used further for the soup. (But makes for good eating.)
- Put the vegetables in a food processor until they are chopped fine or pass through a strainer. Both were performed in the most recent study.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
(Note: This soup freezes well.)
Matzo balls were prepared according to the recipe on the back of the box of matzo meal (Manischewitz).
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After you've slurped a bowl or two, have grandma give you a giant hug. You know Grandmas are immune to the diseases that affect us mere mortals…and a good hug can cure almost every disease on Earth.
