Chicken Soup

CHICKEN SOUP

Chicken soup is easy, tasty and satisfying.  My grandmother usually made chicken soup with a fowl.  She always had the fowl well cleaned out and reserved the neck and the edible organs (which she froze for other dishes).  The stock would simmer for what seemed like forever...she added only whole onions, celery with leaves and carrots, washed and trimmed of greens.  When the broth had turned a golden yellow, she removed everything by straining the broth into a colander over a large bowl.  She allowed the ingredients to cool while she placed the broth back onto the stove, adding fresh spinach or kale and red or white beans or cooked pasta or rice to the broth.  The result was delicious!

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken or fowl (remove insides; reserve neck and freeze everything else)

cold water

1 to 2 large white onions, peeled

2 to 3 stalks of celery, washed and white base removed but leave leaves

3 carrots, washed and greens removed

Place the chicken and neck in a slow cooker.  Cover with cold water.  Add other ingredients (cut up to fit slow cooker).  Simmer until serving time.  Take chicken and vegetables out of pot and put into a bowl to cut up.  Add any leftover pasta or rice (warmed up) and 10 ounces of frozen kale or spinach (thawed out).  Allow those to warm up a bit.  While that is happening, remove chicken from bones, cut up veggies and then serve by putting those back in the pot.  Lots of grated cheese and a crusty loaf of bread make this a hearty meal!