Chicken Noodle Soup

Nothing is better on a cold day then a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup!  I usually use the left over chicken from a rotisserie chicken to make mine.  I love the flavor that it adds to the broth.  I have a rotisserie at home, so that makes it easy.  If you don't, and you don't want to spend the money on a pre-cooked one, you can certainly buy a whole chicken and add seasonings to it while it's cooking.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken
• 1 c chopped celery
• 1/4 c chopped carrots
• 1/4 c chopped onion
• 1/4 c butter
• 8 oz egg noodles
• 12 cups water
• 1/2 tsp dried marjoram
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 TBS dried parsley

Directions

1. In a skillet, saute the celery and onions.  Set aside
2. In a large stock pot, add the chicken to the 12 c water (or more - the water should completely cover the chicken) and boil until the meat is falling off the bone.  If you are using a whole, uncooked chicken**, make sure to remove the gizzards before boiling.
3. De-bone the chicken, leaving the meat and broth in the stock pot.
4. Add carrots, onions, celery, marjoram, black pepper, bay leaf, and parsley. You may find that you need to add more water to your stock if your chicken boiled down too much.  Simmer for 30 minutes. You may want to skim the skin off at this point as well if you missed some in the de-boning.  
5. Add noodles, and simmer for 10 more minutes.

**For an uncooked chicken, you will want to season your broth while cooking the chicken.  I typically add some kosher salt, garlic pepper, and quartered onion.  I do not leave the onion remains in the soup, since I have them sauteed with the celery, but it makes the broth taste better.