Soup Nazi

I love fall for many reasons. The crisp air, the leaves tuning colour, Halloween. Most of all though, I like to come home to a house that smells of soup. Homemade, comforting soup. What I tend to do every other week or two, if I could be bothered, is roast a whole chicken, tear the meat off it and put aside, and then roast my bones.
 I add some olive oil to a stock pot, I let that heat a bit, and I add in my bones. I give them a minute or two and then I add whatever I have on hand that will flavour my stock: Leek, garlic, carrot, onion, salt and pepper, bay leaf, rosemary (or any other fresh herb I have on hand) celery, and anything else in the fridge that needs using up. I then stir all of this around while usually dancing to The Pixies or something similar and drinking a nice glass of vino or rum. ( I forgot to mention the lushy side of me - Don't be alarmed).

I then cover it all with cold water ( at least half a pot full) and slowly bring to a simmer. Once that start, all the foamy fat bits start to come to the top and I then scoop them off and get that cruddy scuzz straight outta there. Then, I wait. I let this baby simmer and simmer for hours, checking every so often and giving a stir. If I can, I then turn it down really low and keep it going overnight. The next morning, I'm met with a fantastic smell all throughout the house and a reduced stock. It will be a golden rich colour at this point, and I then start my straining.
I empty everything out into a strainer with a big pot underneath to catch my stock. I then leave the veg and bones in the strainer for a few minutes, to make sure I catch every drop of that comforting goodness.

Once my stock is strained, I add chopped celery, leek, carrot and garlic to my stock. Once they are close to soft, I add my chopped chicken from the day before, and any other veg I have on hand - Corn, mushrooms, etc. I then pile in my greens at the last minute, careful that they don't lost their colour. I have been known to use whatever I have on hand - Bok Choy, Green Beans, Sugar snap Peas, etc. Once they are soft to the touch with a bit of crisp, I know my soup is done. I then take it off the heat, break out a nice loaf of fresh bread with real butter and put my feet up and enjoy the soup.

This is so easy to do, and I am then able freeze it in containers to have on hand for lazy days. Give it a try, improvise, use what you like. But soup rocks, and it even seems to help me fight off flu's and colds as well. They also are great when you have a killer hangover and cant stomach much.

Enjoy guys and gals - I know I will.