The Best Chicken Soup

This recipe is taken from "MealLeaniYumm!" by Norene Gilletz. The only chicken soup I make.


3 lb chicken, cut up
8 cups water (approx.)
Salt, to taste
1/2 tsp pepper
7 to 8 carrots
4 stalks celery
2 onions cut in quarters
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup fresh dill sprigs (do not chop)

1. Trim excess fat from chicken. Place chicken in a narrow, deep soup pot. Add water. (it should cover the chicken completely). Add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Remove scum completely. Add carrots, celery, and onions. Cover partially and simmer gently for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Add garlic and dill. Simmer soup 10 to 15 minutes longer. Adjust seasonings to taste.
2. Cool completely. Strain soup. Discard all veggies except the carrots. Refrigerate soup overnight. Discard hardened fat from surface of soup.
3. After the stock is made, I add in 1 cup of egg noodles.  I cut up the carrots that I saved from the stock as well as the chicken meat.  I add more salt and pepper to taste and add fresh dill.