So, without further adieu, here's my recipe, which I learned from my grandmother (MiMi), who was of German descent. I wish I'd had more time to learn from her before she was gone, because she was one of the most wonderful cooks ever.
MiMi's Medicinal Homemade Chicken Soup:
Ingredients:
For The Broth:
3 to 4 stalks of celery (with the leaves), coarsely chopped
1 large yellow onion, peeled and quartered
4 to 5 spring (green) onions
8-10 cloves of garlic, halved
1 whole bay leaf
1 teaspoon of whole black peppercorns
2 teaspoons of salt
1 whole chicken
8 cups of water
Directions:
1. In the morning, start your broth by filling the stock pot with water and adding all of the ingredients for the broth.
2. Bring the pot almost to a boil, but not quite. It needs to simmer very slowly all day and not boil. 3 to 4 hours is usually enough time, but I usually let it steep for a while.
3. When the stock is ready, remove all of the ingredients, setting aside the chicken to cool and add the veggies to your compost pile or your trash.
4. At this point I use a couple of layers of cheesecloth inside a colander, to drain the broth. Rinse the stock pot and and return the broth to the pot.
5. Bone the chicken and tear into bite size pieces. Now you're ready to make the actual soup.
Chicken soup:
Ingredients:
2 to 3 stalks of celery, diced
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 package of baby carrots, sliced & chopped (or shredded carrots, chopped)
1 package of fresh mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
5 to 6 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 teaspoon of olive oil
2 teaspoons of butter
8 cups of the broth you previously made (or you can use 2 cartons of organic chicken broth)
2 teaspoons of chopped parsley
1 teaspoon of kosher or sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns, ground
1/2 of a package of egg noodles
Directions:
1. In the olive oil and butter, saute the onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms, and garlic in that order, until almost transparent.
2. Add the broth and allow the soup to simmer and cook the veggies for at least another 1-1/2 hours.3. Add the chicken, chopped parsley, salt and pepper and allow to simmer a while longer.
4. Boil the egg noodles in another pan, drain and set aside. I've found that adding them to the soup soaks up all the liquid and then they fall apart.
5. Place noodles in bottom of bowl and pour soup over the top.
6. Serve with healthy crackers or sourdough bread. Enjoy!
7. I have to admit I forgot to add the parsley before taking the picture, so it's not nearly as attractive as it should be.
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