Ingredients: Whole chicken 1 onion, finely diced 2-3 celery stalks, finely diced 1-2 carrots, finely diced 3-50 cloves garlic (I know the garlic fans are out there lol), minced 3-4 bay leaves 1Tbsp oregano 1.5tsp thyme Starch of choice (optional) Salt and pepper to taste
Whole chicken (I leave the skin on because I like the extra richness but you can take the skin off if you prefer) in a stockpot, breast side up; fill with enough water to cover the chicken by about an inch (I usually add some salt—1/2tsp or so—but if sodium is an issue you can leave it out). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to med/low, cover and simmer 25-45m (check temp after 20m, and it doesn’t have to come all the way up to 165° yet because it’s going to get cooked the rest of the way later).
Once the chicken is up to around 140-150°, take it out of the stock pot and place it in a large bowl (that is safe for hot items) to cool and the remove skin, remove meat from carcass, and place carcass (and skin if you want it in) back into the stock pot to simmer for another 30-45m or so, till it’s reduced a little and flavourful. Kill the heat, remove bones and skin from the broth, and strain the broth through a fine mesh or cheesecloth. Set the broth aside and wipe out any leftover bones and whatnot from the stock pot and heat up a little butter or oil on medium. Salt and sweat the onions; once translucent, add celery, carrots, and garlic, adding a little more salt. Once everything is softened and fragrant, add bay leaf, oregano, and thyme and stir in, cooking for about 1-2m. Add the broth and bring back up to boil.
I like egg noodles for this recipe, but wild rice is delicious, or orzo, or whatever pasta/rice/starch you prefer. Cook the starch element in the broth according to the cook time on the box, and add the chicken pieces during the last 5ish min of cook time. Finish up by adding salt and pepper to taste (I don’t recommend cooking black pepper terribly long because it becomes a little bitter..I like bitter, but it doesn’t really play well with this recipe, imo).
My wife and I like to eat this with garlic bread: preheat oven to 450 and cut a load in half lengthwise. Brush the cut sides with butter or olive oil and place cut side down on a sheet pan. Bake until you start to see some colour, then flip the pieces over. Continue to bake until golden brown, then, after pulling them from the oven, scrape a clove of garlic on the cut side.
Only after receiving emphatic, enthusiastic consent I suppose? 🤷🏼♀️