Chicken Soup ala Kathy
Make stock 1 day in advance.
For stock:
3 lbs. Raw chicken backs, necks, wings -all or any combo of
2 qts. cold water
3 ribs celery, scrubbed
2 carrots, scrubbed
1 onion, skin on
small piece of clean cloth and a little string
A few sprigs of parsley
3 bay leaves, 1 garlic clove, tsp. peppercorns.
Make a bouquet garni by putting the herbs and peppercorns in the cloth and tying it up. Put everything else in a big pot and leave it over med- low heat for about 3 hrs., or until the bones have fallen apart. Don't worry about skimming- you'll never get it all anyway. Don't let it boil- that makes it cloudy.Also, never salt your stock while it's cooking. Water evaporates, salt stays, too hard to control !
Pass all through a sieve to remove all bones and bouquet garni , and refrigerate overnight. The fat hardens on top and is easy to remove...carefully ladle the clean stock off of the sediment on the bottom and discard it.
For the soup:
1 tbsp. Olive or Canola Oil
2 ribs celery, peeled and sliced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 small or 1/2 large onion, cut North to South , peeled and sliced thin
2 bay leaves
1 c. egg noodles, cooked rice or diced cooked potato (optional)
1 lb. skinned, boned, diced raw chicken breast
Mound the onion, celery and carrot together in the oil over med. heat and sweat them, covered, about 4-5 mins. Stir, and add the bay leaves; cook until the bay leaves get wet, about 2 mins. Add stock and simmer, covered, 1/2 hr. Add chicken and simmer 15 mins. Add noodles, rice or potatoes and cook 15 more mins., 1 hr. total Salt and pepper to taste.