There’s a secret to making good chicken soup. You need to be willing to boil the heck out of a lot of chicken. Start with a large stock pot, ours is 16 quarts. Buy two nice sized (or three if not so big) chickens. Cut into pieces, if you want, take the wings out for Buffalo wings, and a breast for another meal if you wish. Cover with fresh water and bring to boil.
After about an hour, pull out the white meat, take it off the bones and throw the bones back in. Save the white meat to put back in the soup before serving. Now, put in eight peeled carrots, eight stalks of celery, both cut into big pieces, and one large onion, peeled and cut up. A bit of black pepper as well, 1/4 tsp or so. Simmer for another two hours and strain to get the stock you see above. You can spend a bit of time and pull of the meat for chicken salad or to serve over rice or noodles. On a good sale whole chickens are under a dollar per pound, and this stock is well worth the ten dollars or so spent on the chickens. You’ll notice I don’t add salt. I’d rather adjust the final seasoning when the stock is used for the dish I’m serving. This freezes very well, and with the winter coming up great to make on snowy days when you’d rather stay in doors.
