Best-ever Chicken Soup

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One of the best things about Farm-direct is that they have understood how to get the best out of meat and provide value for money as well as quality.  The raw carcass of a large, superb quality chicken will cost you only 79p and forms the base for this wonderfully nourishing, tasty soup.  It makes a big potful, which you might think would form 2 meals for 4 – but my family loved this so much they polished the lot off in one sitting with crusty bread.  If that doesn’t recommend it to you, nothing will!

1 chicken carcass
2 onions, halved but not peeled
2 cloves of garlic, peeled but left whole
2 large carrots, peeled and quartered
2 leeks trimmed and cut into 4 pieces each
2 teaspoons salt
5 black peppercorns
2-3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bayleaf, torn in 2

1) Get out your biggest saucepan and put all of the above into it.  Pour over about 3 litres of cold water, it must cover all the ingredients. 

2) Bring to the boil and then turn down the heat to minimum.

3) Put the lid on and let it simmer for around 3 hours.  I like to let this cool and refrigerate it overnight so that the fat rises to the surface and I can skim it off – not necessary but if you’re watching your waistline every bit counts!

4) Lift out the carcass and,using your fingers or a small sharp knife, scrape all the meat into the pan.  Don’t be shy, get in and around all the bones – don’t waste any!  Then slip the outer skins off the onions and discard, leaving the flesh in the pan. 

5) Now get your soup whizzer out and liquidise it.  Reheat and check the seasoning before serving, tongue-searingly hot and glorious.  And remember, chicken soup makes you well........................

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