Grandma's Chicken Soup

Long-time readers know that I keep all my chicken bones in a plastic grocery sack in the freezer till I have a potful, and then make chicken broth. It's super-simple: Just dump the bones -- they can be picked absolutely naked, that's fine -- in a stock pot. Cover with water, add a teaspoon or two of salt (no more; it concentrates as the broth boils down) and about 1/4 cup of any kind of vinegar (this helps draw calcium out of the bones, so you get a high-calcium broth.) Put it over low heat and let it simmer till at least a quarter, maybe a third of the water's cooked down. Strain and use, or freeze for future use.

Well, I had enough bones they were clogging up my fridge-top freezer, so I made a pot of broth this week. That's why we're having soup tonight! Here's what's on my stove top:

I put 2 quarts of my new broth in my biggest saucepan. While it was heating, I thawed a couple of chicken leg-and-thigh quarters -- they were super-cheap recently, so I stocked up. I diced two big celery ribs and a half a medium onion, and thinly sliced about a dozen baby-cut carrots I had kicking around the fridge. I threw the veggies in the pot, then stripped the skin off the thawed chicken, and threw the legs and thighs in, too. Added some chopped parsley and a bay leaf, and since the broth wasn't salty, I added about a rounded teaspoon of chicken bouillon concentrate. (I like Better Than Bouillon paste.)

So that's all simmering right now. When the chicken's quite tender, I'll strip the meat from the bones, dice it, and throw it back in the pot. I'll salt and pepper it to taste, and add some fettuccini-style tofu shirataki noodles, and I'll have super-tasty old-fashioned chicken noodle soup for supper.

Oh, and that chicken skin? That I'll spread on my broiler rack and roast till it's crispy. Then That Nice Boy I Married and I will salt it and eat it like chips. Too tasty for words.