Chicken Soup

So the weather in NE Texas has been rather crazy lately, and it seems that we all have gotten these lousy colds and scratchy throats due to the constant shift in temperature. Here is a recipe that hits the spot.

Chicken Soup

Ingredients:
16 cups low salt chicken broth (4 boxes of Swanson's broth)
1 - 3.5 lb chicken cut into 8 pieces (or to make it easy on you just get 3.5 lbs of chicken breasts bone in or boneless, your choice)

1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 cup chopped red onion
12 carrots, peeled and sliced
12 celery stalks, sliced

1/2 a stick of butter
1.5 lbs mushrooms, sliced
1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon ground white pepper
1 tablespoon ground thyme
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)

Preparation:
Combine chicken broth and chicken in a large heavy pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover partially and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Using tongs, transfer chicken to large bowl. Cool chicken and broth slightly. Discard skin and bones from chicken. Cut chicken meat into bite-size pieces and reserve. Spoon fat off top of chicken broth.

Return broth to simmer, add onions, carrots and celery. Simmer until vegetables soften, about 8 minutes.

Melt butter in a heavy large skillet over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and saute until beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in lemon juice. Add mushrooms to broth, stir in bay leaves, parsley, ground white pepper, thyme, and reserved chicken. Simmer for 20 minutes. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper.

Serves:12