Yes, apple.
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I make all my chicken soup with leftover rotisserie chicken caracas, with skin & bone. In this case, there were two of them. I do different variations—Paper Thin Chicken Soup (with paper thin onion and lemon, including the rind) is one of my favorites.
So, two of them, a quart of Kitchen Basics UnSalted Chicken Stock, augment with water as necessary. Bring to a boil, simmer covered for an hour or so. Let cool. Strain and painstakingly get all the bits of chicken meat—even the bits between the vertebrae.
Add whatever stuff, simmer for another 30 minutes or, until your added stuff reaches the doneness you prefer (I like veggies a bit firm).
In this case, there was 3 cloves of garlic, one bay leaf, a big handful of those little carrots, about half an onion, and a whole apple. Yep, an apple.
I only season at the end, and this is why I use unsalted stock. When liquids reduce, you can be too salty real easy. In this case, 1 TBS and then 1 TSP of salt brought it up nice. I just did a light dusting of pepper, actually wish I hadn’t.
sounds interesting… but when did you add the apple to the soup? I’m trying to envision if it ends up al dente as bite size pieces, or if you cook it to mush.. eg flavoring the base.
Scratch the last comment… 30 minutes before. Must have had a lapse of attention when reading the end.
Actually, sdiguana, you zero in on the essential.
In this case (I have done this before) I got busy watching Thursday Night Football and I let it go too long. Oh, well, still tasty, though minus the texture I prefer.
Good bet that 15-min simmer will be minimal. Then, keep testing, like al-dente, eh?
i never thought about putting apple in soup.
so i tried this last week.
i started w/ home made chicken broth (from feet) + 1 granny smith)
very good & also easy.
the next day the apple became so mushy that it almost disappeared. the broth tasted even better.
so it seems either cooking al dente or mushy is OK.
cheers,
so i think both mushy