Chicken Soup for the College-Age Soul

Ingredients

• 2 small or 1 large boiling or roasting chicken
• 1 unpeeled onion, halved
• 1 rib celery
• 2 carrots, peeled and chunked
• A few stalks parsley
• A few peppercorns
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon salt

Directions

Put all the ingredients in a large stockpot, cover abundantly with water, and bring to a boil. Skim the surface to remove all the gray scum that will float to the top, then let cook at a simmer for about 3 hours. Just keep tasting: when the broth tastes golden and chickeny, it's ready. Remove the chicken and, if you like, leave the soup to get cold to you can remove any fat that collects on the surface. 

Reheat the stock, and serve it as a plain soup, or add a few carrot sticks - from about 2 carrots, say - and cook in the soup, adding some torn-up pieces of chicken to warm through at the end. Add freshly chopped parsley to garnish. 

(From Nigella Lawson's 'Nigella Bites' series) 

Here's another take on the same idea! Hopefully the visuals will help with your preparation.