Mama Cain’s Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients

Yield:

1 gallon - 12 servings

• • 1 whole 4 lb chicken, plus 3 chicken carcasses with wings
  • 8 large carrots
  • ½ bunch fresh celery
  • 2 large yellow onions
  • 6 cloves fresh garlic
  • ½ bunch fresh thyme
  • ½ bunch fresh parsley
  • ¼ bunch fresh oregano
  • ¼ bunch fresh marjoram
  • 12 whole black pepper corns
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 bag of large egg noodles
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preparation

Difficulty:

Easy

Time:

 

Total Time:

 

1. 1. 1) Remove the breasts, thighs and drumsticks from the whole chicken
   2. 2) Remove the skin from the chicken parts and discard, reserving the meat
   3. 3) Place all the chicken carcasses as well as the reserved wings in a large pot and cover with water
   4. 4) Bring the liquid to a simmer; then skim any fat and scum that has risen to the top
   5. 5) Add in ½ of the celery, carrots and onion, along with ½ of the whole garlic cloves and continue to simmer for about 1 ½ hours
   6. 6) Meanwhile, peel and cut the remaining carrots, onions and celery into approximately ½ inch pieces and reserve
   7. 7) Clean and finely chop ½ of the fresh parsley, thyme, oregano & marjoram; take care to reserve the steams
   8. 8) Finely mince the remaining ½ of fresh garlic cloves
   9. 9) Once the chicken broth has simmered for about 1 ½ hours, add the bay leaves, whole pepper corns, and remaining herbs and reserved herb stems.
   10. 10) Continue to simmer the broth for an additional ½ hour to 45 minutes
   11. 11) When the broth has developed a good flavor, strain the hot broth through a fine mesh sieve into an additional large stock pot. Discarding the cooked vegetables and chicken carcasses.
   12. 12) Bring the strained broth to a boil, and then add the cleaned, de-skinned chicken parts to the pot to cook
   13. 13) When the chicken is cooked through, remove the cooked chicken to cool to the point where you can safely cut it into large ½ inch chunks
   14. 14) Bring the broth back to a boil and add in the cooked vegetables, cooking them until they are just tender
   15. 15) Add in the pasta, and chopped herbs and continue to boil until the pasta is cooked
   16. 16) When the pasta is cooked and the veggies are tender, add in the cooked diced chicken meat, season to taste with salt and pepper and serve piping hot