My very dear friend Melanie back home in Texas (I really need to call her - it's been a long time) gave the RS this recipe, and I've used it often.  I'm grateful I had this, because when I went off milk, I found out that most chicken boullion has milk protein in it - go figure!  So this has been an absolute lifesaver for me.  It makes really good broth, and I make all kinds of things with it, starting the chicken soup with rice we'll be having tonight, the chicken pot pie in two days, and the Spanish Rice side dish we're having tomorrow.  Yum Yum.

BASIC CHICKEN BROTH

In large soup pot cover 1 whole chicken with water.  Add chopped onion, celery, and carrots.  Add 1 TBSP Salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, and 1 large bay leaf.  Bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer until chicken gets tender and falls apart when you try to pick it up.  Take chicken out to debone.  Strain veggies out of the broth, and you're done!  And, for the same price as you spent for your chicken, you now have in addition a gallon or so of really good broth (with no additives!).  You'll never buy the canned stuff again (seriously - I never have!).

This broth freezes well and has many uses - for soups, casseroles, along with making rice that is flavorful. 

TO MAKE FLAVORFUL RICE:

To use it with rice, just put 2 parts cold broth and 1 part rice along with salt (for each cup of rice you need 1 tsp of salt when you use plain water - if you salted your broth (sometimes I don't) you may not want to add as much salt to your rice) .  When your broth and rice come to a boil, cover and simmer for 20 min.  Make sure and use a thick bottom pan or it will scorch.



TO MAKE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP:
(This is the recipe I use for chicken and rice soup, but I just add a cup of rice to my soup instead of noodles - easier)


Use recipe for broth above, discard the veggies you used and add fresh chopped onion, 2-3 stalks of celery, 3-4 carrots which have been peeled and sliced into rings.  Let those fresh veggies cook in broth while you make the noodles.


Homemade Egg Noodles

2 C. flour
3 egg yolks
1 whole egg
2 tsp salt
1/4 to 1/2 C. water

Place flour in bowl.  Make a well in the center of the flour.  In another bowl mix together the egg yolks, whole egg, salt, and water.  Mix with fork adding flour to make a workable dough.  When too stiff to stir with fork, work with fingers until soft enough to form into a ball.  Knead until smooth.  To roll dough, place on lightly floured surface.  Roll paper thin.  Cut into 1/4 inch strips.



Add noodles to boiling broth and veggies.  Cook until tender, stirring occasionally.  Add chopped chicken meat, and a spoonful of dried parsley.


I like to serve this with my no-knead dinner rolls (a recipe also shared by Melanie) or cornbread.  I may have those recipes in my archives - I'll have to check later.  Mmmm!  And if you have sick little ones (like I do right now), it's perfect.