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1
Take one whole chicken. Wash and throw away all giblets.
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2
Place whole chicken in a pot a bit larger than the bird and with a lid. Cover the bird with water and bring to a boil.
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3
Chop onion and garlic cloves. Throw in. Don't bother browning anything.
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4
Wash celery then chop up about 4-5 inches of the whole bunch, leaves and all. Throw into pot. Prepare some carrots by scraping and cutting into bite sized pieces or buy those cute little ones. Don't put them in yet. Also have ready orzo (Italian rice-shaped pasta) or rice or some broken up spaghetti or other pasta. Orzo is a fave in our house but rice is really good and so is spaghetti. Don't put in yet.
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5
Now salt, pepper, herbs de Provence (tablespoon), oregano (teaspoon), bay leaf or two (optional). Let bird boil covered for 45 minutes. No matter how much salt you put in you will need some later so about 2 teaspoons for now and let your guests salt it themselves.
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6
When 45 minutes have elapsed remove the bird carefully and put in a big bowl. It may fall apart which ain't a bad thing. While the bird cools in the bowl put the carrots in the soup and bring to a boil. The carrots will take about 15 minutes so you need to do a calculation. If you use orzo which takes about 9 minutes you must then drop in the orzo after the carrots are in for 6 minutes so they are done at the same time. About the same for any pasta. Rice takes a bit longer so maybe put it in when the carrots are only 3 minutes cooked.
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7
Often I stop the cooking process 2-3 minutes early and put the pot on a cool table top or wooden board to get it cooling. If you wait too long your carrots and stuff will overcook. Once the bird cools a bit then remove all meat by hand and pull apart, clean out and drop into soup. Stir it up and enjoy the best chicken soup this side of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Guaranteed to cure the common cold and better the second day. You may freeze this soup but why?
