Home-made Chicken Soup

That chicken you roasted? Here’s what you do with the stuff that didn’t land on the table. You’re going to make the stock and meat for the soup, and then make the soup. It will be FABULOUS.

• Leftover chicken, the back and wings and other parts you cooked but didn’t eat- skin, bones, and meat.
• Enough water to cover the chicken as completely as possible (but don’t overdo–Just covered. It’s okay if a few points stick out.)
• 3-4 carrots, scrubbed and cut into 2-3 inch lengths.
• 2-3 ribs of celery (if you have ribs with leaves on them, this is the place to use the leaves!), scrubbed and cut like the carrots
• 1-2 medium to large onions, peeled and quartered.
• a little salt and pepper

Place everything in a large pot and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat so that it’s simmering. Let it simmer until the chicken carcass comes apart. (It doesn’t have to be every bone disjointed from the others, but the major things, like where the wing is attached, or the thigh, those ought to come apart.)  If you’re worried about whether the broth has any flavor, taste it. If it’s too bland, toss in a bouillon cube or two. Just remember that any salt you add now doesn't need to be added later.

Let it cool until you can handle the chicken. (I usually render the carcass after supper the night I roast the chicken, and tackle the boning in the morning. And leaving it at room temperature is fine, because everything in there has been thoroughly cooked.) Using a colander and a big bowl or a stock pot, I pour everything in, letting the stock drain. Don’t pour it down the sink! This is the soup part of your chicken soup, and it is SO much better-tasting that anything that comes out of a can or box or a jar. Now separate the meat from everything else. Since I am making soup, I throw the meat into the pot with the broth. EVERYTHING ELSE gets thrown away: skin, bone, tendon, and all vegetables. This is the time-consuming part, and the main reason hardly anyone makes chicken soup from scratch. But I promise you, this soup is a game-changer, and it is worth digging through the bones and skin and mushy carrots. Being right-handed, I put a garbage bowl on my right and the pot for the meat on my left, and the colander in the middle. And sometimes I wear disposable vinyl gloves, because otherwise I’m fighting the urge to wash my hands the whole time I’m doing it.

Once the meat is separated from the garbage, I heat up the broth again. And I evaluate how much soup I want, versus how much broth and meat I got from this operation. If I need more broth and meat, this is the place to add it. Usually I end up adding at least 2 cups of broth and 2 or 3 frozen boneless-skinless breasts. It’s okay to throw it in there frozen and uncooked. It will cook.  Then I start chopping vegetables.

• 6-8 carrots, peeled and sliced (or you can use 1/2 lb. baby carrots)
• 3 ribs celery, or more, washed and sliced thin (no leaves)
• 2-3 onions, peeled and diced in your favorite size
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced (optional)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• herbs of your choice (sage, thyme, rosemary, basil are all favorites)

Once you have chopped your carrots, onions, and celery, put everything in with the chicken. Check the meat, if you put in extra, and if it’s cooked through you can shred it up. Put your herbs in now, too. Cook it at a high simmer-low boil until vegetables are tender. (If you have leftover vegetables that would enhance the soup, put those in when your other veggies are not quite done. I might add leftover cauliflower, leftover rice, or mushrooms, but not broccoli or Brussels sprouts, for example.)  Remove the bay leaves.

You can serve it now, and it will be delicious. You can also put a lid on it and let it cool down, and then reheat it later, and it will taste even better. I grew up eating crackers with soup, but we almost always go with bread now at suppertime. (Crackers are for lunch, apparently.)

Keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 10 days, or you can freeze it and keep it for up to 3 months.