Sunday chicken broth

When I was a child Sunday Roast wasn't on the menu, it just wasn't part of our culture. Sunday lunch was about the clear broth of a chicken. The chicken was free range and organic in every possible way. The broth was made from a whole chicken with giblets (legs, wings, neck, liver, hearth and gizzard). It was seasoned with root vegetables and served with cooked stuffing (called töltelék made from semolina, liver and fresh parsley) and hom-made thin noodles (called levestészta).

With the weather getting cooler I inspired to make soup every day. I suddenly remembered the Sunday chicken broth again, and the characteristic taste sprang into my mouth from my memories. The broth is best when it is made from a whole chicken not just from breast or thighs (what else can you find in a grocery store chicken meat section nowadays?). It is best when it is made from bones not just meat. I have found what I needed for this warming soup, organic chicken carcass with neck and giblets (hearth and liver), and it turned out to be a delicious Sunday chicken broth base. Here is my simple version of this traditional Hungarian soup. Remember, it is not about the meat, it is about the flavour of the clear broth.

You will need:
chicken carcass with neck and giblets, organic
1 medium onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
1 bay leaf
5-6 whole black pepper
1/2 tsp ground sweet paprika
1 tsp whole caraway seeds
4-5 carrots
1 leek
1 parsnip
2-3 celery stalks
1/2 of a celeriac
a small head of kohlrabi

Wash your chicken carcass and separate the into pieces like breast bone and back bone. Take off the skin and excess fat (you can leave it on if you do not mind to end up with a quite fatty soup). Put the bones and neck, liver and hearth into a large stock-pot. Add cold water and bring to boil. When it almost reaches it's boiling point take out the foam (so you can end up with a clear broth). When all the foam is taken out, season: onion, garlic, bay leaf, black pepper, sweet paprika, caraway seeds. Add the cleaned vegetables too: carrots, leek, parsnip, celery and celeriac. Bring the soup to boil again, then reduce the heat to minimum and cover with a lid, and gently bubble for 2 hours.

When the time is up, take out the bay leaf, celery, onion and garlic, discard. Put the veg on one plate and the bones onto another. Filter the soup through a fine strainer. Best served hot. Enjoy!