Chicken Carcass Soup with Noodles or Rice

A roasted chicken carcass, be it from your own oven or a rotisserie chicken from the super market still has flavor and possibilities left in it. It's also a good way to utilize the older vegetables at the bottom of the drawer, that have lost their plate appeal. You should use the oldest vegetables in the drawer for the "stock," though it's not really stock, because you will be cooking the flavor out of them and into the base, and then discarding them with the carcass.

"Stock"
1 picked chicken carcass, set meat aside.
2-3 carrots
1 onion
1-2 stalks of celery
1-2 cloves garlic
peppercorns
rosemary sprigs
a bay leaf or two
Whatever you may have roasted in the chicken, we usually use apples and/or oranges
Other miscellaneous vegetables of dubious age: radishes, turnips, chives, mushrooms

Coarsely chop the vegetables, break up the chicken carcass and place the above ingredients in a stock pot and cover with Water.

Bring to a boil then simmer for at least one hour

Soup
2-4 carrots
1-2 stalks of celery
1-2 garlic cloves sliced
1-2 cups prepared noodles or rice
1-2 cups leftover chicken meat
2 TSP Chicken stock base, or 1 can chicken broth
salt an pepper to taste.

spices and herbs: There are a couple of options here, depending on what you have available and what flavor you are looking for:
a) 1-2 tsp Szeged Chicken rub - Garlicy and compliments chicken nicely
b) rosemary, sage, thyme. Add in that order a pinch at a time.
if I ever figure out measurements I will post them
c) 1 tsp Penzey's Bouquet Garni* - this is a magnificent & flavorful blend of herbs

Dice up fresh vegetables into bite size pieces

Using a collander strain the "stock" into a large bowl or another pot

Pick off any usable chicken meat and set aside, discard the boiled vegetables and bones.

Return stock to pot, add fresh vegetables. Alternatively, if you are throwing in last night's leftover vegetables, add them after 25 minutes with the rice/ noodles / meat, because they are already cooked.

Stir in chicken base

Add seasonings to taste.

Simmer 20-30 minutes until the vegetables have the desired crunchiness. This really is a personal preference. We like ours al-dente, not mushy like canned soup.

When the vegetables are "done", add the rice or noodles and chicken meat.

Give kids dinner warning, it will be ready in 5-10 minutes.



* Penzey's Bouquet Garni: Hand-mixed from: savory, rosemary, thyme, Turkish oregano, basil, dill weed, marjoram, sage and tarragon. http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeysbouquet.html