Good Old Chicken Noodle Soup

I hope this picture makes you want soup because there is nothing better than a warm bowl of homemade chicken soup.  The glistening fat droplets beckon you from the bowl as the little noodles of love swim around the....Oh, excuse me.  Was having a moment there.

I cooked a whole chicken the other day and decided to save the carcass and extra meat for soup.  My mother-in-law has always made the best chicken soup.  I could never figure out how she got her broth so clear.  She told me she strains it.  So, I would strain my broth.  Still, not so clear broth.

I asked her again recently and found out she had left out a very important process to her clear broth.  She puts the chicken broth in the frig over night and skims off the top of the broth.  So, I did this with the batch of broth and it came out great.

I boiled the carcass for about 45 minutes along with the leftover broth.   Chopped up half an onion, two carrots, and two ribs of celery.  When the broth was ready, I discarded the carcass and strained the broth twice.  I reheated the broth and brought it to a boil adding the vegetables.
Meanwhile, I took the leftover meat off the bones and cut it up in small pieces.  I boiled the broth and veggies for about 20 to 25 minutes.  I then added really thin egg noodles but you can add any you like.  After the noodles were tender, I turned the soup way down and added the chicken at the last minute to reheat it.  The seasonings I used were minced garlic, garlic salt, pepper, onion powder, and pepper.   Mmmmm...now that's heaven.