Magic Chicken Soup

When flu season is here or you are just plain under the weather, this hearty soup is so good for what ails you.  Gone are the days where Campbell's Sodium ridden soups are the right choice.  At least in this household, we don't eat those soups.  I much prefer to make soups myself.  This way I can control what ingredients go in them as well as the sodium!  I've been making this one for many years.  It's a labor of love, as there are a few laborious steps for the success of this soup, but mind you, well worth the efforts. Cold and Flu season will soon start, so bookmark this page and make a batch when you need extra healing.  This soup freezes VERY well, so make a lot and freeze for the days you don't feel like cooking.  Hoping you stay healthy and well as the cold weather soon starts. (Keep in mind, this recipe is for A LOT of soup because I freeze it in individual portions for later.  If you don't want to freeze it or make this much, just cut the recipe in half.  Once you taste, you will want it for later.

What you need:
~4 Packs of chicken thighs bone in, skin on
~30 Cloves fresh garlic (yes, quite a lot, but it melts in your mouth and is not like eating raw garlic at all.  You have to trust me on this one. =)
~1 1/2 Cups White wine (not cooking wine)
~About 7 Quarts water 
~3 Parsnips cut into 1/2" slices, then cut in half and quarter.  These taste just like potatoes without all the calories and soak up all the broth and melt in your mouth!
~5 Carrots cut in 1/2" Slices
~1 Large sweet onion cut in half and quartered
~1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
~1/3 Cup of salt (or more to taste) Trust me, seems like a lot, but it's not in 7 quarts of water
~1 Tsp red pepper flakes
~1 Tbsp dried Italian herbs
~6 Chicken bones saved from the cooked chicken and broken in half (This will be tied in cheese cloth and put in the broth and adds the healing marrow to the soup.  Jewish Penicillin as they say.
~1 Piece of cheese cloth (for wrapping chicken bones in)

Let's get to work:
1) Place chicken in a large stockpot at least big enough to hold 10 quarts, put salt, wine and 7 quarts of water and 15 cloves garlic left whole.  My pot actually has the quart markings inside the pot.  A great item I picked up while living in Switzerland.  I never knew how helpful that would actually be!  Let chicken boil, then simmer for 1.5 hours and skim the top if necessary.  This is the first step to the most amazing homemade broth!
2) While the chicken is cooking, prepare the vegetables and set aside.
3) When chicken is done, take tongs and place chicken in a colander and let cool and drain for about 20 minutes and turn the gorgeous broth you just made to simmer on the stove.  Ok, here comes the laborious part.  You have to take off all the meat on the bones yourself and place in another bowl as you go along, but it goes fast if the chicken is cooled.  I do this by the sink, so I can rinse my hands and some chicken pieces if needed. (Save at least 6 bones)  I tear really big pieces of chicken for my soup because when I want chicken soup, I want more than 2 tiny pieces of chicken in it, I want a BOWL of it along with all the other goodies in this soup!
4) Carefully add all the chicken and veggies to the soup and the Italian herbs, and the rest of the garlic.  Also the bag o' bones which I will explain in step 5
5) To make the bag o' bones, place a paper towel on your chop block and place the bones on it and with a cleaver if you have one, one slam cuts in half!  Place broken bones in the cheese cloth (first rinse you cheese cloth in water and squeeze out, as this eliminates the dust from the cloth getting into your soup) and tie ends together and throw into the soup. Another method is to put the bone in a kitchen towel and simply break in half.  Sometimes they get brittle enough to do this from simmering.
6) Simmer soup for 1 hour or more and then you are ready to serve.  But before you do this, test the broth to see if it needs any adjustment with the salt.  It shouldn't taste too salty, you want just a hint.

Enjoy and get well if you are under the weather!  Great to make for a sick friend or loved one!