Mom's Roasted Costco Chicken Soup

 

Mom’s Roasted Costco Chicken Soup

This is a long and fairly complicated recipe, but makes two huge meals or more.

These directions are for egg free and GLUTEN FREE chicken and rice soup, but I LOVE this soup with fat, German spaetzle dumpling/noodles.  I like Bechtle brand.

To make the soup, I first roast a Costco chicken a second time with lots of root vegetables: the leftovers go into the soup.

 

Here is a shopping list

1. Costco chicken

2 large onions

Celery (I use about 5 stalks)

Jar of chicken Better Than Bouillon 

Carrots (1-2 lb of nubbies or more)

1-2 lbs small new potatoes 

2 yams or sweet potatoes 

1 large apple

Butter

Rice or noodles

First reroast the chicken and veggies:

 

Take the elastic off the chicken 

Slice I onion:put half on bottom of big soup pan (at least 8 deep x 12” across) on top of olive oil or butter. This helps insulate the chicken and keep it from overcooking on the bottom.  Peel and core apple and put chunks of apple and onion inside the chicken.  Save the peels for the broth.

Cut potatoes and sweet potatoes in half and surround the chicken. Dump carrots on top. Put 1/2 cup hot water in Costco chicken bag to dissolve juices and gelatin in bag and pour that over chicken and veggies. 

Put lid on pan

Roast at least 3 hours at 325 degrees (or 5 hrs at 300)

When ready, carefully lift everything out of pan: chicken will practically fall apart. 

To make gravy, put onions and apples from the stuffed chicken in a blender, along with all pan juices. Add 1-2 cups hot water into pan to get drippings. Add that to blender along with 1/2 peeled cooked sweet potato Add I tbsp corn starch for each cup of gravy makings. Blend well and pour back into the pan the chicken was roasted in and cook until thickened.

Serve.

 

 Now to make the soup: 

 

Strip all the leftover meat off the roasted chicken.  Keep all the bones, skin, etc to make broth.

Next step is to put the entire carcase, skin, etc of the roasted chicken in the pot you roasted it in and made gravy in: you don't even need to wash it first.

You can add things like the tops of the celery, or potato skins or old carrots or old apples to the broth. Cover with water.

Simmer the bones, etc for at least 3 hours or more.

Using a sieve or strainer, pour the broth into a clean bowl or pot.  Throw away all the bones, skin, boiled veggie parts, etc.  I put them all in a plastic grocery bag to keep the trash neater and lessen the probability of some animal trying to get into the trash.

Chop up the 2nd onion and as much celery as you want in the soup. In the soup pan, melt 2 tbsp butter or olive oil and cook the celery and onion in the fat until it is translucent.

Next,  add the broth you made to the onion and celery and at least 1 cup of uncooked rice  (or noodles) to the broth and simmer.  When the rice (or noodles) is tender, chop up all the leftover veggies and as much chicken as you want. Add meat, veggies and leftover gravy to the soup and simmer for about 1/2 hour, adding water if needed.  Now test for flavor: if you want more flavor, add Chicken flavor Better than Bouillion one tablespoon at a time until the soup tastes good.  Add freshly ground pepper to taste.

Enjoy.