A Followup to Stuart's Chicken Soup Post

Well I made chicken soup, figuring that if I have to have a cold, I might as well do the big pot of chicken soup thing too. It really is a good amelioration for the sore throat. My thoroughly non-traditional soup was:

3 chicken breasts with ribs
8 chicken wing drumettes
2 medium red potatoes, cubed
2 vidalia onions, chopped with skin left on
4 cloves garlic, thoroughly smashed
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
1 parsnip, chopped
1 portabella mushroom cap, chopped
1 bottle of beer
4 tbsp sherry vinegar
1 pear, chopped
1 cup apple cider
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp dried sage
1 tbsp herbes de provence
1 tbsp dried dill
1 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp ground mustard
2 tbsp turmeric
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sea salt (approximately)
water as needed

Brown the chicken in the bottom of a stock pot in a little oil. (It's not important to brown it all, just some, to get that oh-so-delicious Maillard reaction effect.) Add the onions, half the garlic, half the mushrooms, the spices and liquid, simmering for about a half hour (or so). Add the remaining ingredients (except garlic and olive oil) and allow to simmer for another half hour to hour. You may need to add water to cover the vegetables. A few minutes before removing from the heat add the remaining garlic and olive oil.

It was good the day it was made, but has matured very nicely and the vinegar, cider and beer have given it some added brightness. It's a bit too murky to be a chicken soup like my stepmom makes but it works. I was dubious of the drumettes the day of cooking but upon reevaluation they definitely add to the chickenness of whole thing and are thus worth it. I'm not sure the pear really added all that much.

This was so non-traditional (despite containing no in principle non-kosher ingredients such as Stuart's parmesan rind) a student of mine---who's an honest-to-goodness Orthodox Jewish mom---shuddered a bit when I told her about it and made sure to send me a very traditional recipe.... :)