Best Chicken Noodle Soup!

Total Time: 2 hrs 40 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 2 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients

• 4 lbs chicken
• 3 quarts chicken broth
• 6 peeled carrots
• 4 stalks celery
• 3 medium onions
• 5 black peppercorns
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 sprigs parsley
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 3 cups egg noodles

Recipe

• 1 put whole chicken and broth in large pot over medium heat (be sure that the broth covers the chicken).
• 2 roughly chop and add 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks and 1 onion.
• 3 add peppercorns, garlic, 2 sprigs parsley, thyme, bay leaf.
• 4 bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook, covered, 1 1/4 hours until chicken is tender.
• 5 remove the chicken, strain the broth and discard the vegetables used to make the broth.
• 6 the meat should be falling off the bone from the chicken, chop the meat that you want in the soup and discard the rest.
• 7 let broth rest a bit and skim fat from top (to be honest, i'm very lazy on this step and it never seems too fatty to me!).
• 8 chop the remaining 2 onions, 4 carrots, 2 stalks celery.
• 9 heat butter over medium heat, add the chopped vegetables and cook about 7 minutes, until onions are translucent.
• 10 add the chicken meat, the broth, salt and pepper and the cayenne. i said 1/2 tsp of cayenne, but i probably use more (i like it to have a little heat!).
• 11 simmer soup for 1 hour, covered.
• 12 stir in noodles and cook about ten minutes (i also really like orzo for this soup, just be careful not to use too much or it will be more of a porridge!).