Chicken Soup

My Mom and my Mother in Law both had chicken soup recipes, so we took the best of both and added our own twist to it... YOU GUESSED IT. Extra garlic and mushrooms.

Ingredients:

• A whole chicken (raw)
• 1 onion
• 5-6 long carrots
• 3.5 lbs gold/yellow potatoes
• 1 lb sliced mushrooms
• 6 oz garlic
• 1-2 oz chopped parsley
• 3-4 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp basil
• 2 tbsp oregano
• 2 tbsp paprika
• Salt (roughly 2 tbsp + to taste)
• Chicken stock (2 cups)

Directions:

1. Fill a large soup pot half full 0f water and boil. Add some salt and the bay leaves.
2. Prep
   a. Cut the chicken apart into pieces. Expose and crack as many bones as possible.
   c. Dice garlic and onions fine. Wash and chop the rosemary fine.
   e. Peel the carrots and chop into large pieces.
   f. Peel potatoes and slice into thin half-moon pieces (quarter for larger potatoes).
   g. Rinse mushrooms.
3. When the water boils, add spices and herbs first. Then add everything except the potatoes, green onions, and chicken stock. Ingredients should feel like they are cramped in the pot. Bail out water if necessary.
4. Turn it down to a simmer and allow to cook for 3 hours.
5. Remove the chicken. Cut off as much meat as possible into the pot and shred it. Be careful removing the bones. Check the soup with a strainer-spoon for bones before adding the meat back in.
6. (Sergey specific step) Fish out all carrots and discard.
7. Taste the broth. If you feel it should taste more chicken-y, add 2 cups of chicken stock.
8. Add potatoes and green onions. Return to a boil, then back down to a simmer for 15 minutes.
9. Add in salt to taste and enjoy!

Note: If you like carrots as part of the soup, cut them up smaller during the prep stage and skip the "discard" step. If certain herbs are not available for purchase on your shopping trip, don't sweat it, that's why there's several on the list.

Recipe amalgamated from Tamara and Sally.