Mom's Cold-Season Chicken Soup Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 cups of homemade chicken stock
• Fat from the homemade chicken stock
• 1 yellow onion, peeled and roughly diced
• 2 carrots, sliced in half-inch slices (about the same amount as onion)
• 2 celery stalks, sliced in 1/4 inch slices (about the same amount as the onion)
• 1 Tbsp fresh parsley leaves
• 1 Tbsp of chopped greens from a green onion (green part of the green onion).
• 1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1/8 teaspoon (a pinch) of crushed red pepper flakes (or a small pinch of cayenne)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
In a 4 qt saucepan, heat a tablespoon of chicken fat (that has risen to the surface and solidified from your homemade stock) on medium high heat. If you don't have enough chicken fat, you can add some olive oil. Sauté the vegetables in the fat until the carrots are almost done. While you are sautéing the vegetables, add the seasoning - the poultry seasoning, the crushed red pepper flakes, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. Seasoning like this during the cooking of the vegetables brings out their flavor. According to my mother, crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne is very helpful for a cold, which is why it is part of this recipe. Add the 4 cups of stock. Bring to a low simmer. Add the fresh parsley and green onion greens. Check seasoning and adjust to taste. Serve with (at least) day old crusty French bread.