Hearty Chicken & Stars Soup

I had some wonderful left-overs from the Sissy's Chicken that I made yesterday so I decided to turn them into soup! Soup is a great way to use up left-overs and it's a great comfort food for this time of year. I happened to have some carrots and zucchini hanging around so that's what I used today. You could also add: mushrooms, spinach, kale, onions, celery, etc. I also used Israeli couscous because that's what I had in my cupboard. Unfortunately, I've found that it's a little difficult to come by. Instead of the couscous, you could use: egg noodles, elbow macaroni, ditalini (little tube shaped pasta), rice, or potatoes. Also, if you don't have chicken left-overs, you could pick up a rotisserie chicken for this recipe.

Hearty Chicken & Stars Soup
Makes: 6 servings

For the broth:
1 whole roasted chicken
2 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
1 cup whole baby carrots
2 cloves garlic
water

For the soup:
Chopped chicken picked from the bone
2 cups chopped baby carrots
2 zucchini cut into bite size pieces
2 - 4 tsp chicken base or chicken bouillon
1 cup Israeli couscous

Make the broth:

  
• Pick as much chicken as you can off of the bones. Don't worry if there is a lot left on there, it will come off later after the chicken has been simmered. Be very careful to pick out any bones, there are lots of tiny bones in chicken. Set the chunks of chicken aside in the refrigerator.
• In a heavy bottomed stock pot, pour in the oil and heat over medium. Add the whole carrots and garlic cloves. Stir continuously and cook until the carrots and garlic are a nice golden brown, about 5 - 7 minutes.
• Place the chicken bones in the pot on top of the carrots and garlic.
• Add enough water to almost cover the chicken. It took about 10 cups of water for the size chicken that I had.

  

• Cover the pot and turn the heat up to high.
• Once the water has reached a rolling boil, turn the heat down to low-medium-low and continue to simmer, covered for 2 hours.
• After 2 hours, remove the pan from the heat. With a slotted spoon, scoop out as much chicken and bones as you can. Then pour the broth through a mesh strainer to strain out any remaining pieces of chicken and bone. The easiest way I've found to do this is to place a strainer over a really large mixing bowl, pour the broth into there, then transfer the broth back to the soup pan once it has been strained.
• Discard the carrots and garlic.

Make the soup:

• Pick the remaining chicken off the bones, again being very careful to pick out any tiny bones, and add it to the chicken that was picked off previously. You should find that it's much easier to pick apart this time and the chicken just falls off the bone.
• Discard the bones.
• Chop up any large chunks of chicken so that all pieces are bite size or smaller.
• Add the chicken to the broth.
• Cook on medium, uncovered until the amount of broth reduces by 1/3, about 20 - 30 minutes.
• Add the chopped carrots and cook for another 10 minutes.
• Add the zucchini and couscous, cook for another 10 minutes.
• Remove the soup from the heat.
• Add the chicken base or chicken bouillon starting with 2 tsp. If the soup tastes bland, add more base or bouillon, 1 tsp at a time, until the soup reaches the desired flavor.
• Serve with crackers, biscuits, or a nice crusty artisan bread.