Hilary Duff Makes Her Go-To Chicken Soup

Ooh, that neck always, always gets me every time. You want it? I think it's funny. But, I'm Hilary Duff, and I'm with New York Times Cooking, and I'm making my mom's chicken soup. Cooking when people are watching is a real different experience. Are you horrified by the way I'm cutting this? I've never been so aware of my severely bad habits in the kitchen. She's a real free-flowing recipe, so we're like, what do we have? How do we throw this together? It's casual soup, if you will. There's no real measurements. I think that's the way soup is meant to be. I have onion goggles at home. You have any of those laying around? Oh yeah, I had to call my mom and be like, I know how to do this, but do you have the measurements, or can you walk me through the steps? Gonna let that cool off before I burn my mouth and ruin my day. I asked for some tips, for sure. I need the goat to tell me what to do. My grandmother used to eat onions like apples. Thought it was so gross. Love you, nanny. Sorry, it was not cool. I'm also getting a chicken facial. Feel nervous. Did I say that already? Every time I'm sick, my mom makes me this soup. It's got a little bit of a Mexican flair to it, so there's cilantro and lime and jalapeno. It's meant to be a real sinus opener, just like that comforting chicken noodle soup vibe with a spin. Magically, this gorgeous chicken has appeared in front of me, and it's cleaned and dried and all the things. We have the neck here. Someone pulled this little guy out. I don't love doing that job, so very appreciative, but great flavor for the stock. So we're going to add some water. She's just gonna go hang out in there for a little while. We're gonna put that neck in there, la la la la la la la. So this is very gorgeous and tidy. We've got thyme, we've got rosemary, and what is this? What is she? Bay leaf. Oh, that's a fresh bay leaf. I never have those at home. So you could use all water, all stock, half water, half stock, which is what we're doing today. Bone broth is awesome too. Just make sure the chicken's covered. I'm just gonna put a big chunk of ginger in there. I'm the cook in my house. Although my kids say that my husband makes better avocado toast, and I'm so offended by that. I'm really dogging that guy. I'm appreciative when he makes it, and I don't have to. I'm just gonna put this in here. It's a lot, but it'll be good. And I'm also going to add a big pinch of salt. So we're gonna let the chicken cook through. We're making this gorgeous stock. Then we're going to pull the chicken out, take the skin off, let it cool, and cut some vegetables in the meantime. My chicken is finished cooking. It smells so good already. I love fresh stock. I'm also getting a chicken facial. Sometimes, you know, we have to cheat and buy a rotisserie chicken and not do this part, which is totally fine, because life is busy. We're gonna let her hang out and cool off. I hate cutting onions more than anything. I sob. I don't know what it is or why. I heard if you put these in the freezer before you cut them, it's supposed to tame how much gas they release, and if you're super sensitive. I love an onion goggle. My grandmother used to eat onions like apples, and that was my least favorite thing about her. I thought it was so gross. Why did she do that? She liked it. Clearly, she enjoyed it. I think that was my question when I was a child, too. You were starting to tell the story about when you first started dating Matt. Oh, my God, and then I just dropped off? Sounds about right. So I used to make overnight oats for him for the week, and I would make all kinds of, like, crazy concoctions in little cute jars and then, like, label them with tape, and I think he was like, this is a good girl. We're gonna try to keep her around. He's also lactose intolerant, so that's been a hard thing for me to swallow through our relationship is he can't have cheese or dairy. I have to, like, go on my cheese journeys alone or with a friend. Are you horrified by the way I'm cutting this? She's like, what are you doing? I've never been so aware of my severely, like, bad habits in the kitchen, and then sometimes I get really over it and then I just start chopping like that, and it doesn't matter because these are gonna get softened and, like, whittled down to nothing anyway. I aspire to cook more in the coming years, but right now I have a lot of kids with a lot of opinions. I wouldn't say they're picky eaters, but this one doesn't like this thing and this one kind of likes this thing and I just can't get too advanced with the meals. You know, they're not alive yet. They're not in there. Do you request any specific food items on your rider? My rider is so boring right now, I have to change things around. I'll tell you what's on my rider. Chips and salsa, a jar of dill pickles, string cheese, a veggie tray, Reese's peanut butter cup, watermelon Sour Patch Kids, wine, lemon Spindrift, Diet Coke and water. Oh, and meat sticks, like chomps. My kids call them meat sticks. I'm like, we gotta change this. I'm used to making the snacks and then someone's like, what do I want? And I'm like, I don't know what I want. It's so weird to think like that, I think, as a mom. If this is not, like, the inside of my brain. My husband's like, why do you take out every dish to cook? Why is our kitchen so destroyed? But he's also, like, appreciative for a meal, so he's just used to it. I clean up after myself, sometimes. I like a lot of celery. My chickens would be so happy if I came home with that. We had eight, but there was a death in the family. Now we have seven, and they're awesome. They give us, like, beautiful blue and, like, peach-colored eggs. Okay, we are going to saute these veggies and get them translucent. I'm gonna put a lot of butter in there. Butter makes everything better. Obviously, if you have a child at home, like, maybe cut this in half, but we're all adults here. We can handle this. I used to go to the Little Owl a lot. When I was doing Gossip Girl, I lived around Union Square, and there was a restaurant called Union Square Cafe. I used to love going there, but I'm not a creature of habit. I like to try new places. And we're just gonna let this hang out, and I'm gonna prep some garlic. I can literally see the craft service table in my mind right now, and I haven't thought about that in so long. I think I ate a lot of chicken tenders back then. I think that was probably my main food source. I just had a conversation with my musical director about that song and when we're going to use it. That's, like, a deep cut, but, like, the ones who know know. I'm gonna use it when I need it, but it's not gonna be on a set list. It'll just make, like, a surprise appearance, and I think there's gonna be a couple of tracks that rotate to excite. It's starting to smell really good. My mom told me if she didn't have dinner, like, further along when my dad would get home, she would just throw a mirepoix on. Anytime there's a mirepoix cooking, everyone's like, oh, it smells so good in here, and you get, like, hungry, and that was her hack to... make it seem like dinner was further along. The other handy thing that I have in my life is a friend who's a chef. I call her nonstop. In the middle of, like, cooking dinner, I'll be in crisis, and I'll just be like, what happens when this, and what do I do next, and how can I save this? I don't even, like, say hello, do anything. She's really used to these, like, panicked calls. This is enough, and if, like, these veggies aren't soft, they're gonna get soft in the stock. It's rustic. There's nothing the same size in there. So this corn is gorgeous. I'm gonna cut this when it's softer later, but you can put orzo or pasta, rice, whatever you want. These just magically appeared. My sous chefs are brilliant. Take the seeds out, take the veins out. I'm gonna throw two in. I could use a little sinus opening right now, so I'm gonna throw those in, and then we're gonna shred this chicken. Take the skin off. We don't want that. The other sneaky thing I'm going to do is put some chicken bouillon in here. It makes the stock really good. We're just eyeballing here. My mom makes the best scrambled eggs ever, and I realized that at 38, she's been whisking mayonnaise into them instead of milk, and I was like, you dirty dog. What am I watching right now? This is why your eggs are superior to everyone else's. I'm gonna get the cilantro ready, because it's time. The stems don't bother me, so I cut some off. I like it loose and free-flowing in there, so I might just tear it a little bit. Lot of cilantro, if you like cilantro. If you're one of those weird people that don't like cilantro, move along. This is not the recipe for you. Don't look. We can take this guy out now, and probably that neck. I found it. I feel like lime zest, I've never done it, but lime zest when you're garnishing your bowl could be nice and bright. This soup, really, you can do anything with it. Oh yeah, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. Thank you. I like lots of lime. It makes this soup lovely. Delicious, good for your sick days. Chicken soup. She's really hot. I need more lime, so go crazy with the lime, but it's so good, and it just has that cozy feeling, but with a brighter edge to it because of the cilantro and the jalapeno and the lime. I love this soup. This is my mom's chicken soup recipe. It's going to be available on New York Times Cooking. It's very delicious. I've grown up with it my whole life. My album, Luck or Something, is out now. I'll be on the Lucky Me Tour this summer. Come and see me.