In the soup

 "You buy a hat like this, I'll bet you get a free bowl of soup, huh?"

Continuing on from my last post here,  what better thing to do with chicken stock than to make chicken soup.  This is a fairly straightforward recipe without frills.  You could add cream to make it creamy, or more herbs to make it complex.  But this is your basic chicken soup.  Perfect for a cool fall day.  It also freezes well, provided you don't add dairy to cream it up (dairy splits in the freezer). 

Ingredients

Stock.  Hopefully you maintain a good stock of it. 

Chicken.  Wouldn't be chicken soup without it.  

Bacon Fat. To cook the mirepoix.  You can use butter or olive oil if you prefer.  No shame here. 

Noodles.  You can use any you want.  Noodle on the kind you'd use.  

Mirepoix. A blend of carrot, celery, and onions in equal amount all chopped uniformly.  I got mine pre-done at the store because I'm fancy like that. 

Salt and pepper. I don't know why you add these to a recipe.  They're ubiquitous.  But there they are.  

Concentrated stock.  Just to bump the flavor up a bit.  You can also use bouillon.  

Dill Weed.  Adds a nice complexity to the soup.  Plus it is fun to say. 

Directions

1. Put a stock pot on medium to medium high heat.  Melt the bacon fat.  Once hot, add the mirepoix.  Cook until tender.  

2. Once the vegetables are tender, add the concentrated stock and stir.  Then, add your stock.  

2. Pull the meat off the thighs and the drumsticks, removing any fat or cartilage, and then dice along with the breast meat.  Then add to the pot.  Simmer on low for an hour or two.  

3. Once simmered, raise temperature to medium high again and add pasta, stirring well.  Cook until pasta is tender.  

4.  Your soup is ready to eat.  Serve with rolls or crusty bread.