time

4 or 5 hours

ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken, about 4 pounds
  • 5 yellow onions
  • 1 bunch of celery
  • 6 medium carrots
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 4 or 5 cloves of garlic
  • Kosher salt
  • Garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon good olive oil

instructions

part 1

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F
  2. Take one of the yellow onions, halve it and remove the outer skin, then slice into semi-circles and place on the bottom of a roasting pan.
  3. Remove any giblets, etc. from the chicken and place on top of the sliced onions, breast side up.
  4. Salt the chicken inside and out with kosher salt, add some garlic powder over the top and drizzle the olive oil over the chicken.
  5. Roast for about 1 hour and 10 minutes or until the breast meat reads 165F with an instant-read thermometer
  6. Let the chicken rest for 15 minutes, then carve off the breast meat, legs and thighs - leaving a little bit of meat on the carcass, including the wings. Slice/shred and store in the refrigerator once cooled.

part 2

  1. Add the chicken carcass, leg and thigh bones to a large heavy bottom pot
  2. Quarter 2 of the onions and add them to the pot
  3. Halve 2 of the carrots and add them to the pot
  4. Add 2 stalks of celery, halved to the pot
  5. Peel and crush 4 or 5 cloves of garlic and add to the pot
  6. Add cold water to the pot, covering all ingredients
  7. Add 2 bay leaves and 2 tablespoons of kosher salt to the pot
  8. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, partially covered for 2 or 3 hours
  9. Strain through a colander into a separate pot or pyrex bowl that's large enough to hold all of the liquid - discard all solids.
  10. Wash the original pot, making sure there are no small bones, etc. left
  11. Strain that liquid through a fine mesh strainer, back into the clean, original pot
  12. Dice the remaining two onions
  13. Dice 3 or 4 stalks of celery
  14. Peel and chop the remaining carrots, medium
  15. Bring the chicken stock to a simmer over medium heat and add the onion, celery and carrots, simmering for 15 minutes or so or until the vegetables are at the desired tenderness.
  16. Add the cold, hand shredded chicken to soup bowls along with pasta if desired
  17. Ladle the vegetables and stock into the bowls and serve.