Homemade Chicken Soup - It's all about comfort

Homemade Chicken Soup

Is there anyone who has not had chicken soup? (well, besides vegetarians). There's something about chicken soup...its nostalgic, comforting, healing, and just plain good.

And easy to make!

In my opinion.....the success of a soup is in the broth. If the broth is flavorless, the rest of the soup will deflate in its wake.

I use lots of seasonings both in the making of the broth as well as in the making of the soup.

Ingredients is a hard thing to list here. I have no measurements. I begin the same way every time but as I go along, it shifts and becomes its own.

In a large pot of water, cook your chicken with some onions, bay leaf, cumin, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper.

In a pan with heated oil and / or butter, saute some chopped onion, a couple of diced carrots and one or two sliced celery stocks.....

Once your chicken is cooked, remove it from the broth and let everything cool, both the chicken and broth. When the broth is cool enough to deal with, I separate the crud from the good stuff. I have one of those really nifty little thing. Don't know what its called...maybe its a fat separator? You pour the broth into it. Let it sit for a bit. You'll see all the fat rise to the top.....

The pour spout comes from the bottom....leaving the fat untouched at the top. But all the sediment is at the bottom...so you can either strain that out, or watch very closely so that the sediment doesn't come out through the spout....

Pour the broth back into your large pan. Let it reduce some (not much...but some). Add your carrots and stuff to the broth.....cut up your chicken into bite sized pieces....toss in a handful of some pasta. ( I usually use egg noodles but I didn't have any ) You can add some other veggies.... broccoli, corn, zucchini...what ever floats your boat. This time I kept mine simple.

Taste the broth. You may and probably will have to add more seasoning; garlic, salt, pepper....and even some Italian seasoning is really good. Maybe add some parsley. I just basically ransack my spice cupboard and toss in what ever smells good. And just for that added flavor kick...a teaspoon of chicken bouillon.

If you happen to have some homemade bread...then you're really in luck. With broth as good as this, you won't want to waste a drop.