Miracle Chicken Soup

Okay folks, this soup does take some time, but it is so worth it! The smell of it fills your house, and the pot it makes will fill your belly for days. It only gets better after a couple of days.

3 1/2 to 4 lbs. of chicken pieces (bone-in)
3 large containers of chicken broth
8 carrots, peeled
6 ribs celery
3 medium onions, peeled
7 black peppercorns
2 cloves of garlic
10 sprigs of fresh parsley
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 bay leafs
4 tablespoons of butter
4 leeks
fine egg noodles

Make the stock: Place the chicken and chicken broth in a large stockpot and put it on over medium heat. Roughly chop 2 carrots, 2 celery and 1 onion and add to the broth. Add the peppercorns, garlic, 2 sprigs of parsley, thyme and bay leaves. Bring broth to a boil; reduce heat to simmer, and cook for 1 1/4 hours. Remove the chicken and place in a large bowl to cool. Strain the broth through a fine strainer and discard the vegetables.

Make the soup: Slice the remaining carrots, celery, onions and leeks into 1/4 inch thick pieces. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the vegetables and cook about 7 minutes. Remove and discard the skin and bones from the chicken, and break meat into bite-size pieces.
Add the chicken and vegetables to the broth and simmer about 1 hours. Chop the remaining parsley. Stir in the fine egg noodles and chopped parsley and cook about 10 minutes more.

I promise you - you will get rave reviews for this soup! Store leftovers in the refrigerator; add more chicken broth if it is too thick after refrigeration.