Raise the Dead Chicken Soup

Paul's Notes

The aim of this game is to stuff as many nutrients and vitamins as possible into a small amount of clear liquid, and because you're using fresh vegetables and all parts of the vegetables, you get the entire vitamin and nutrient content saved in the broth. Onions, leeks and garlic are all natural infection killers and anti inflammatories. Like most stocks, this involves very little work, mess or cooking know how; the majority of the work involves leaving the stock on a very low heat for a very long time while you do something more interesting.

The bones in the chicken stock provide the high nutrient gelatine. Your aim is to cram as many chicken bones as possible in the stockpot, the more bones the higher the nutrient count, so rather than go to the trouble of buying and roasting an entire chicken carcass, buy the cheap packets of uncooked bony pieces like chicken wings which have a lot of gelatine: you want the bones, you don't care about the meat. 

Tools Needed

Stock pot or large saucepan with lid
Colander

Ingredients

Large whole onions – 4 plus (depends on size of your stockpot), unpeeled
1 whole leek, unpeeled (or more onions if you prefer, or a packet of unpeeled shallots)
1 whole celery head (use sticks if you have to but the roots hold a lot of vitamins)
6 unpeeled cloves of garlic
1 package of back Canadian or back bacon or a package of  bacon, whichever is easiest to find

8-12 chicken wings per pack and/or
8-12 mixed chicken thighs/drumsticks  depending on how much stock you're making.

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Directions

1. Put all the raw chicken pieces in a baking tray, season well with salt/pepper/herbs of your choice and put them into a moderately high oven for half an hour. Stock tastes much better made from roasted bones than raw. 
2. WITHOUT PEELING, rinse and cut your onions in half through the root and drop the halves in the stockpot skins and all. (Skins and roots in vegetables hold some of the highest nutrient content, and you won't be eating anything but the stock made from these veg). Put the celery into the pot, heart and all, cut in half through the root, and roughly chop leek into two or three pieces and add. Put unpeeled cloves of garlic into pot, and if possible add the bulb root. Add three of your smoked bacon rashers or your bacon chop. Cover the contents with COLD water.
3. When your chicken pieces are roasted, take them out of the oven and let them cool. When cool, put them in the cold water with the vegetables. The cold water releases more gelatine from the bones, and there should be enough cold water that the bones and vegetables are more or less all covered. Now leave it all to sit and percolate for half an hour before cooking for the gelatine to leech out. Then put the stock pot on a VERY low simmering heat, put the lid on, walk away and forget about it for at least four hours. Check on it occasionally and ensure the heat stays very low. Do not stir and do not add more water; if the level of liquid appears to be getting too low then consider your broth done. 
4. When your broth is done: turn off the heat. Drain the contents of your stock pot through the colander and save the clear liquid. Throw away the contents of the colander, all the flavour it had is now in the stock. 

There's your broth.

Season to taste (although usually the salty flavour of the bacon means the broth is already seasoned). Add whatever you feel like adding, noodles, etc. Serve the broth either by itself, or if your cold/flu victim feels up to it, some pieces of warm crusty bread and a handful of cheese on top. Freezes well too.

~*~ This is Ranger's Personal Recipe ~*~