This is going to be fun.  I am going to start out with a “how to make a chicken stock” and you all are going to add ingredients to the soup to make the final recipe. Please

Stock

Start with a very large pot, 12 qts if you have it.  We are going to make a lot of soup to freeze for later.

add 2 gal (8 qts) of filtered water.  If you don’t have a pot that large, fill the one you have about 1/2-2/3 full of water

Add at least 1 whole chicken.  Fryer or a roaster.  I’d pick a roaster because they are larger.

Bring the pot to a boil then reduce to a fast simmer for at least 2 hours.

The chicken should fall off the bone.  Remove chicken from pot and reserve, pulling the bones from the carcass and throwing them away.

Continue to reduce the stock.

1.  (jughandle would add) Salt and pepper to taste

2. (Darlene would add) 2 carrots, 2 celery and  1 onion, diced then sauteed in olive oil before adding.  This is known as a  mirepoix of veggies.

3. (Mittie would like to add) fresh thyme & tarragon. If you have a herb garden pick a few stems and strip the leaves into the liquid.  If you don’t like stuff floating around in your soup (I really don’t know why), you can do a bouquet garnie which is just a fancy name for wrapping your herbs in a piece of cheese cloth so it can be removed later.

4. Thank you Mittie, it is smelling good now.

5. What we should do now is to remove all the solids from the broth

• first cool the broth to room temp or cool enough to handle
• then strain out the solids with a strainer or cheese cloth
• put the strained broth into a large bowl or pot and put into the refrigerator
• the next morning the chicken fat will be solid on the surface
• skim or ladle off the fat.
• You now have a great chicken stock/broth to use in the following recipes
• you can also freeze in plastic bags or bowls for later use

6. Darlene wants to make a Tortilla soup from the chicken stock. (please click on the link for the recipe)

7. Jughandle wants to make Italian Wedding Soup (please click on the link for the recipe)