I keep a bin of carrot ends, celery ends, onion ends and skins in the freezer. When it's Costco Rotisserie Chicken Day, we eat the chicken, then throw the freezer bin of stock vegetables in the pot as well. To this add as many celery sticks, carrots, and onions as you like. You're looking at maybe 3 carrots, 4 celery sticks, half an onion or so, total vegetables.
Optional: you can roast the vegetables ahead of time, cover them with oil, oregano, garlic powder, whatever. 20-25 minutes at a preheated 425 degree oven. Chop them up into 2 inch size chunks, don't just stick the whole carrots in there. Sprinkle with salt, maybe throw some whole peppercorns in there.
Remove as much chicken from the carcass as you are planning on using, either in the soup you make, or otherwise. Set the chicken aside and throw it in the fridge.
Take the carcass and throw it in the pot. I like to break it up into chunks but it's not necessary. Throw the vegetables in the pot as well.
Take a quart jar and fill it with water. A quart jar has four cups. Pour the water into the pot. Keep pouring water into the pot with the quart jar, keep track of how many cups it is. You want the level of the water to be a half an inch or so above the level of the stuff in the pot.
Do you have bouillon cubes? One bouillon per cup. If I am trying to economize, I will replace the bouillon with salt, maybe one scant teaspoon salt per cup. Finally, add 1 teaspoon of vinegar, either white or apple cider. This helps break down the cartilage of the chicken carcass.
What else? Some sprigs of fresh thyme, rosemary, or oregano. Or a tablespoon of dried versions of those spices. If you have white wine, a quarter cup of white wine. A splash of fish sauce. A parmesan cheese rind. Chunks of tomatoes are also great.
Simmer for at least 40 minutes, maybe even 80 minutes. Strain the broth components and discard.
BONUS CHICKEN SOUP RECIPE
Figure out what you have on hand. Pick from the following list:
- Potatoes
- Carrots
- Celery
- Onions
- Corn (sliced off the cob, or just added from a can
- Rice
- Lentils
- A can of diced tomatoes
- Tomato paste
- Pasta / noodles
- Fresh thyme or parsley
- The chicken from before
Put the stock back on the stove. Put it on medium low heat. Do you have potatoes? Chop the potatoes, throw them in. Same with anything on the above list. Put them in the soup in the order they are in the list above. Cook for at least 10 minutes after you added everything, but do a little taste test to make sure everything is cooked properly, you don't want crunchy pasta or potatoes.
You can add mushrooms too! If you want to add mushrooms, fry up the mushrooms for best flavor. To fry the mushrooms, slice them, and fry them in an empty pan over medium heat with no oil or water. The mushrooms have a lot of water in them and this will drive off a bunch of water. After 4-5 minutes, add some canola or olive oil and continue to fry them until they brown on the bottom. Then add them to the soup.
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