Chicken soup for a cold winter night

Charlotte, North Carolina has had more snow on two single days in the brief three weeks it has actually been winter, than the entire average total snowfall.  Unlike my home state of Ohio, the south comes to a grinding halt.  There aren't a lot of snowplows, there ARE a lot of hills and there is usually ice that follows the snow. My office, as well as the majority of businesses was closed for two days.

A day off for me means more time to bake and cook.  Yesterday was bread.  Today was chicken soup.  An entire afternoon of simmering goodness on the stove.  Large chunks of carrots and celery swimming in golden broth and seasoned with a large bunch of fresh parsley, sea salt, fresh ground pepper and a bay leaf.  No onions in this pot...couldn't get to the store.  This soup is wonderful with hot noodles and a freshly opened bag of saltines.  For me, it is the quintessential meal for a cold winter night.

CHICKEN SOUP
1 - whole chicken cut up (3-4 pounds)
1 - small onion chopped
6 - whole carrots cut into 1 inch pieces
2 - celery stalks cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 - handful of fresh parsley (about 1/4 cup)
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt or to taste
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper or to taste
1 bag of noodles cooked as directed on pkg.
1 bay leaf

Depending on how much time you want to spend, there are two methods of preparing this recipe.  The quick way is throw all the ingredients in a large stock pot  with 3 or 4 quarts of water and gently simmer, never boil for about 3 hours (the secret to clear broth). For a more gourmet version, saute' the mirepoix (onion, carrots and celery) in butter until the onions are transparent and add them to your stock pot with the water.  Lightly brown the chicken pieces in the same pan and add them to the pot. Add seasonings and simmer.

After 3 hours, transfer chicken pieces to a plate and remove skin.  Discard skin and bones and shred chicken into bite size pieces.  With a slotted spoon, transfer vegetables to a large bowl, removing pieces of parsley and discarding.  Strain broth into one or two large bowls using a strainer placed over the bowl.  This process assures all sediment is removed from the broth, leaving you a clear, golden broth.

Combine chicken, vegetables and broth.  Add cooked noodles and enjoy.  I put leftovers in lunch size containers and take them to work with my pack of saltine crackers.  Mmmm good.