Chicken Soup Name: Cecelia Cohron Base: Guam Naval Base Recipe: Chicken Noodle Soup Step 1. Stock (to be made first) Ingredients 1 whole chicken (3 ½ lbs) you can also just use chicken pieces (I prefer dark meat for more flavor) 2 lg carrots cut into large chunks 2 large white onions, quartered (note: most types of onion will work, accept green) 1 head of garlic (pealed and cut in halfs) 1/3 bunch fresh thyme (note: Herb thyme works well too, I usually use ½ a tsp) 2 Bay Leaves 1 Tbl whole black peppercorns Water Taking large stock pot and place chicken in the bottom. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Pour in only enough water to cover chicken and ingredients (about 3 quarts). Turn stove on to medium heat and let it come to a slow boil. Lower heat to medium-low and let it simmer for up to 3 hours or until chicken comes away from bone easily with a fork. (Note: If you let it simmer for the full three hours, you can turn the heat down to low and place a lid half on the pot.) You can add more water as necessary to keep the chicken and ingredients covered. (Note: You can use Chicken brother or chicken stock in place of cold water to give soup a richer flavor) After chicken is done, carefully remove chicken and place on large cutting board (use tongs for safety). Place chicken in fridge and allow it to cool. Take what is left of the stock (veggies, broth, etc) and strain through a fine sieve into another pot to remove the vegetable solids and large seasoning pieces. Use stock immediately. Step 2. The soup Ingredients 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin-olive oil 1 medium onion chopped (almost any onion will do, accept green) 3 garlic cloves, minced 2 medium carrots (cut into bite sized pieces) 4 fresh thyme sprigs (or 1 to 1 ½ tsp dried) 1 bay leaf 1 chicken stock (what you made in step 1) 1 shredded cooked chicken (that you saved from step 1) Kosher salt (to taste) Black pepper (to taste) Place stockpot over medium heat and coat with the olive oil. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, thyme and bay leaf. Cook and stir for about 5 minutes, until vegetables are softened but not browned. Then put chicken stock back into large stock pot. Remove chicken (the meat) from its safe place and remove all chicken bones, placing meat into stock pot with the chicken stock. Add salt and pepper to taste. (Note: you may add in noodles or rice to this dish. Just please know to add in cooked noodles or cooked rice right before serving. If you let it simmer with the rest of the pot, the noodles or rice will become very mushy and ruin the soup.) Also know that you can turn this soup to very low heat and let it simmer for hours. We have done so and it makes the soup taste even better. (Freezing instructions and reheating) You can freeze this soup (minus noodles or rice) in the freezer for months. Just allow it to thaw slowly. If you remove the oil it will weaken the flavor and ruin the soup. The soup is even better the second time around. Something about freezing it brings out a richer flavor.