High-stakes chicken soup

A friend of mine is currently undergoing chemotherapy, and the other day sought me out and asked me to make her some chicken soup. As LTHers, I'm sure you can imagine the significance this request has to me: I can't imagine being given a greater honor than to be able to offer comforting food in someone's hour of need.

I've begun my preparations already with a cut-up Amish chicken, an onion, celery, carots, a couple garlic cloves, a couple cherry tomatoes, a slice of lime, and a bouquet garni from my garden. I plan to simmer the chicken until the meat is cooked, remove the meat and return the skin and bones to the pot, and simmer for another couple of hours.

I plan to augment the stock I'm making with some extremely gelationous (but not very flavorful) stock I made earlier from chicken feet and legbone ends.

As I don't know how much my friend is going to be able to eat, after straining out the broth, I plan to poach each ingredient in the broth seperately, and then strain it out into ziploc bags, so she (or I) can assemble whatever sounds good to her when she is ready to eat.

My standard soup ingredients:
poached chicken meat
rice
pastillina (I've got stars, letters, and orzo)
wide egg noodles
Carrot slices
Tomatoes
Swiss Chard

Any suggestions?

Peas, Parsnips, Potatoes

My guy's dad has been through two rounds of chemo and two stem cell transplants, and the one thing I know he complained about with the treatment was the impact it had on his ability to taste--everything tastes more bitter. He really enjoyed foods that were super-salty or spicy.

If your friend likes it spicy, maybe include elements for tortilla soup? (If the friend isn't a fan of too much heat, you can omit the jalapeno; the chipotle adds enough smoky heat.)

Tortilla Soup "Base"
2 tomatoes, cored and quartered
1/2 onion, halved
2 garlic cloves
1/2 jalapeno
1 chipotle chile in adobo, plus up to 1 tbsp adobo sauce
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
pinch of salt

Puree tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapeno, chipotle and adobo in food processor until smooth. Heat oil in Dutch oven over high heat until shimmering; add tomato/onion puree and salt and cook, stirring frequently, until mixture has darkened in color, anywhere from 10-20 minutes (the longer you cook it, the more concentrated the heat/flavor).

You can freeze the "base" in ice cube trays, and use one cube per serving. When ready to serve, drop a cube into broth. Add cooked shredded chicken and simmer until heated through. Serve with tortilla strips, avocado, crema, chopped onions...you name it.

Thank you, ccrush: I forgot to mention my friend is of Mexican descent, so that was very helpful, especially since I was trying to figure out a way to make the spices optional just in case. I'm pretty sure she'd sampled my standard soup at a potluck, so I don't want to stray too far from my usual recipe, but the add-ins above are a great idea.

I appreciate everyone's suggestions, especially if you've cooked for someone undergoing chemo.

Matzoh balls are Soup's version of stuffed animals. They are the most comforting food on the planet! (2nd place goes to strawberry ice cream.)Their blandness knocked out my intense pregnancy nausea. My uncle enjoyed carbs like pasta and cookies when undergoing chemo, but couldn't stand wine or anything acidic. Maybe matzoh balls on the side for your friend?

Josephine wrote:Matzoh balls are Soup's version of stuffed animals. They are the most comforting food on the planet! (2nd place goes to strawberry ice cream.)Their blandness knocked out my intense pregnancy nausea. My uncle enjoyed carbs like pasta and cookies when undergoing chemo, but couldn't stand wine or anything acidic. Maybe matzoh balls on the side for your friend?

I strongly second the matzoh ball recommendation. I'd even go so far as to say forget the rice in favor of the balls.

I'd "google" neutropenic diet to make sure you avoid potentially dangerous items.

For instance I would not garnish her soup w/ chopped onion, avocado or green onion - avoid raw fruits/vegetables.

Re: crema and other dairy products I would make certain they are pasteurized and kept refrigerated until use. Avoid active cultures like yogurt/Kefir.

Your initial thoughts on separately bagging items to be added later may be a concern as you want to "keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold." You don't want to give any of the ingredients, particularly meat/poultry, any chance for bacterial growth.

The main concern, aside from being palatable and nutritious, is that you don't want to introduce a source of infection during a neutropenic state.

I haven't cooked for a person undergoing chemo, but I have treated and ordered neutropenic diets for patients as a physician.

Just an example:
http://patienteducation.upmc.com/Pdf/Ne ... icDiet.pdf

Thanks, everyone - the neotropic diet was very helpful - never thought of fresh veggies as a problem, though they don't sound right for an upset stomach anyway.

I wound up bringing well-chilled plain chicken broth, matzo crackers, and the various ingredients in a cooler in seperate baggies (ziplocs make it easy to keep foods out of the temperature danger zone; spread out whatever in a thin layer inside the bag and throw it over ice in the fridge)

When I got there, she asked for plain broth, and I nuked some, which she managed to get down with a matzo or two. I put the rest in her fridge, and chatted with her about matzoh balls (decided this time to stay in the realm of Mexican caldo de pollo, but next time...) I guess the day of the treatment is extremely difficult, but the rest of the time she's better. She did say that she's pretty much lost her sense of taste; so the smooth texture of the soup was extremely important.

Thanks very much, everyone.