Chicken Soup with Noodles

I've always had an obsession with chicken soup. It never came out clear and I didn't know where I went wrong. It was tasty, but I didn't like that I couldn't see the bottom of the plate.

I would go home and ask my mother what I was doing wrong.
She would ask me: "Did you cook the chicken in cold water"?
Me: "No".
I would make the soup again with cold water and again it would come out murky.
Back to my mom, and she would ask: "Did you skim the foam?"
Me: "Yes, of course".
Mom: "Did you strain the soup in the end?"
Me: "Nooo"
Mom: "But how did you remove the meat from the soup?"
Me: "With the skimmer, of course"
Mom: "That's not right, you have to strain it"
Me: "OK, I'll do that too; why didn't I think of this?"
The soup came out murky once more...
Finally, I got a cooking book by Sanda Marin and read about making soup. I was convinced that the secret of clear soup was well kept by perfect housewives and that I would never find it out. Fortunately, I found the answer to my problem in this book: cooking over low heat. That's where I was going wrong - I cooked it over medium or high heat and it didn't matter if I skimmed or strained the soup. My mother's advice was good, but not enough for my experience at that point. Because all this happened a long time ago; now I know the recipe for a perfectly clear soup. 😋

I only make chicken soup with free-range chicken. Luckily, my grandmother raises the best chickens. The meat only smells of vegetables - it's the smell of the food my grandmother spoils them with (vegetable peels, greens from the garden, and ground corn mixed with cheese). What I like most in the soup is the celery, so I put quite a large amount. However, I don't particularly like onion in this soup - I find it makes it too sweet. I prefer to add a piece of green bell pepper.

You'll love my chicken soup made over low heat. I like to call it liquid gold 😉