Old Fashioned Chicken Soup Recipes

Steps:

• In a large dutch oven or stock pot, add onion, celery, carrots, garlic and bay leaf. Place chicken on top, and add water. (If your pot will only hold 10 cups of water at first, the remaining water can be added later, as some of it will evaporate.) Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 1-1/2 hours.
• Using a slotted spoon, remove chicken to a plate to cool. Strain the broth, and discard the vegetables.
• At this point, the broth may be cooled and frozen for later use, or you may continue on with the recipe. This is an excellent time to remove any remaining fat from the broth.
• Remove the meat from the bones, cut and set aside.
• Return the broth to a clean pot. Bring to a boil and add the potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 1/2 hour.
• Add the chicken, bouillon, frozen vegetables, and noodles. Simmer for 20 minutes.

Steps:

• Place the chicken, celery, carrots, onions, parsnip (if using), parsley, peppercorns, bay leaves and salt in a large soup pot and cover with cold water by 1 inch.
• Bring to a boil over high heat, then immediately reduce the heat to very low. Adjust the heat until the soup is "smiling": barely moving on the surface, with an occasional bubble breaking through. Cook uncovered, until the chicken is very tender and falling off the bone, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• When cool enough to handle, use tongs to transfer chicken from the pot to a container. Taste the broth and continue to simmer it until it is concentrated and tasty. Strain broth through a fine sieve (or a colander lined with cheesecloth) into a separate container. Discard all the solids from the strainer (or reserve the vegetables, chill and serve with vinaigrette, if you wish).
• Refrigerate chicken pieces and broth separately for at least 8 hours (or up to 3 days), until a thick layer of yellow fat has risen to the top of the broth.
• When ready to finish the soup, use your fingers to separate chicken breast meat from bones and skin. Discard bones and skin. Use two forks to pull the breast meat apart into soft chunks, or use a knife and cut into bite-size pieces. (Reserve dark meat for another use.)
• Skim chicken fat from top of broth and set aside. Place 3 tablespoons of the fat in a soup pot with a lid. Add leeks, stir to coat, and heat over medium heat until leeks begin to fry. Then reduce the heat to a gentle sizzle and cook, stirring often, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes.
• Add carrots, sprinkle with salt, stir, and cover the pot. Cook until vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes more. (Keep in mind that vegetables will continue to cook in the soup.) Do not brown.
• Pour broth into pot with vegetables and heat to a simmer. Add noodles and simmer until heated through, soft and plumped with chicken broth. Add the breast meat, then taste broth and add salt and pepper to taste. For best flavor, soup should have some golden droplets of fat on top; if needed, add more chicken fat one teaspoon at a time.
• Serve immediately, in a tureen or from the pot, sprinkling each serving with herbs.

Steps:

• Clean chicken and remove some, but not all, fat. Place in a 2-quart soup pot with carrots, celery, tomatoes, and onion. Tie all dill sprigs into a bunch with kitchen string; add to the pot with salt and pepper. Add water until chicken is covered by 2 inches.
• Cook over medium-low heat until chicken is just about cooked through, about 3 hours. Remove chicken to a platter and allow to cool slightly, 15 to 20 minutes. Cut meat off the bones, place meat back into the pot, and discard the bones. Cook over medium-low heat until heated through, about 30 minutes longer. Remove dill before serving.

Steps:

• POUR 64 ounces Trader Joe's Organic Free-Range chicken broth into a 4-quart pot; heat to a low gentle boil.
• SNIP 1 tablespoon fresh parsley into broth.
• PULL fresh thyme leaves from stem using thumb and forefinger against the growth direction, to yield about 1 1/2 teaspoons; add to broth.
• ADD 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning to broth, along with two pinches (1/8 teaspoon) ground nutmeg, 2 pinches (1/8 teaspoon) ground savory, 1 bay leaf, and 5 whole black peppercorns (or 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper).
• CHOP 1 large onion into 1/2'' pieces and add to broth; MASH 1 large clove garlic with a garlic press; add to broth.
• MEASURE 1 1/2 cups whole baby carrots; add to broth.
• SLICE rinsed celery into 3/4'' diagonal-cut slices to make 2 cups; add to broth (if fresh mushrooms are desired they may be sliced and added to broth now).
• COVER and simmer broth, vegetables, herbs and seasonings until vegetables are tender yet firm (6 ounces egg noodles may be added now if desired).
• REMOVE skin from rotisserie chicken and meat from bones; coarsely chunk or dice chicken meat into bite-sized pieces to yield 2-3 cups; STIR in chunked chicken until heated; REMOVE bay leaf and peppercorns; SEASON to taste with kosher salt if desired.
• SERVE soup hot in bowls; SAVOR the old-fashioned goodness!

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, saute the carrot, celery and onion in butter until tender. Stir in the broth, chicken and seasonings; bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Add noodles; cook for 10 minutes or until tender. Sprinkle with parsley.