gotpassword's German Penicillin, aka Chicken Soup

gotpassword's German Penicillin, aka Chicken Soup
From: gotpasswords

Cheap is where it's at - I prefer dark meat, so I'll stock up on leg quarters or thighs when they're on sale. This is definitely not something you want to use skinless breast fillets for. They cost too much, and they have no bones. You need bones and skin for soup! You also need chicken fat. You can pull off those large ugly lumps of loose fat from around the edges, but leave the skin.

Take one chicken or a similar quantity of chicken parts. If using a whole chicken, you'll want to cut it up. Remove the giblets. You can eat them elsewhere, give them to the dog or throw them away - just don't put them in the soup.

Slice into the larger pieces to give them some more surface area - they'll cook faster this way. You don't need to fillet anything - just a single slice into the thick meat of the breasts and thighs is enough.

Toss them into an 8-quart stockpot. Cover the chicken with water - the pot should be about half to two-thirds full. Add a good slug of poultry seasoning, plus salt and pepper and a couple bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for a couple of hours. What's a slug? Maybe a teaspoon or so? Precise measuring is for wimps and bakers.

After two hours of simmering, you should be well on the way - the soup will be a nice golden yellow and should taste like chicken.

Fish out the chicken parts and bay leaves. Let the chicken cool while you prep the vegetables - peel two or three carrots and two or three parsnips and cut into chunks. Dice an onion and two stalks of celery. Mince two or three cloves of garlic. Put the veggies into the pot and bring back to a simmer.

By now, the chicken is probably cool enough to touch. Pick it off the bones and toss the bones and skin. If you want, you can return the long bones (thighs and drumsticks) to the soup to extract a little more out of them. Don't put the back or ribs back in - those little bones will break up and become hazards to eating. Break the chicken meat into chunks and set aside. After the soup has simmered another hour or two with the veggies, put the chicken back in, taste and add more salt if needed, add the juice of one lemon and enjoy.