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This chicken soup recipe is sure to become your favorite. Try making a flavorful broth that you can use to make soup, eat as it is, or freeze for the future.
Broth is the basis for many dishes. It is sold in stores, but it is much more reliable and cheaper to cook it at home. By the way, you can freeze the broth and use it when necessary, when this or that recipe requires it, be it the first one, a stew or a sauce. To make the perfect homemade chicken stock, you'll need a large pot and a few quality basic ingredients. The result is 2 liters of the best chicken soup you've ever tasted.
You will need:
- whole raw chicken (or its equivalent, cut into pieces, but always with the skin)
- vegetables (peeled carrots and celery, as well as onions)
- cold water
- herbs and spices (parsley, thyme, bay leaf, garlic or cloves, pepper and salt in any combination)
If desired, you can add offal: the heart and stomach of the chicken, but the liver should be thrown away or left for another purpose.
In a large pot, place the chicken and cold water to cover the chicken. Always start cooking soup with cold water. This will help keep the broth clear and not cloudy. The amount of water used and the duration of boiling determine the richness of the broth.
Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Immediately reduce the heat to low and skim the foam off the top. Add pre-chopped onions, carrots and celery to the pan. Salt the broth. If desired, tie parsley stalks, thyme, garlic, bay leaves and peppercorns to make a sachet and add to the pot, or use ground herbs and spices.
Cook the broth over very low heat. Bubbles should barely appear on the surface at irregular intervals. Continue until the chicken is fully cooked. It will take at least 2 to 5 hours - the longer the broth is cooked, the richer it will be. You can make the cooking process longer, but if there is chicken breast in the broth, do not forget to remove it from the pot 1 hour after the start of cooking, so that the meat is not dry and retains its texture.
Transfer the chicken from the pot to a rimmed sheet or large bowl. Remove the skin and bones from the meat. Strain the broth through a fine sieve or cheesecloth. Next, cook your favorite soup, if you plan to freeze the broth, cool it and pour the broth into containers suitable for freezing (leaving at least two centimeters in case the liquid expands), label and freeze the broth. It can be stored for at least three months, and you can also freeze the chicken in a separate container.
