Serious Comfort Food

Lately I've kind of been into trying things I've never done before but always wanted to try. So today, I made chicken soup (which was supposed to be chicken noodle soup, but there wasn't really any space. I made on girth-ey soup!) and crusty bread ALL FROM SCRATCH! No chicken broth added, no bread machine. And let me tell you, it might be the yummiest soup I have ever made. Yay for a huge slow-cooker.

Homemade Chicken soup
1 whole chicken, 3-5 lbs
5-6 stalks for celery, cut into 1/4~1/2 inch pieces
5-6 carrots, peeled and sliced at an angle (and cut in half at the bigger end)
5-6 parsnips, "
1 large onion, large diced
salt and pepper to taste
water
heavy cream

Parmiggiano Reggiano cheese or Pecorino Romano cheese
crusty bread

1. In the bowl of a large slow-cooker, place the whole chicken, add a little salt and pepper, and cover with water. Set the slow-cooker to high, and poach the chicken until completely cooked through, 4-5 hours.
2. Remove the chicken and let cool. Skim the fat from the broth and add vegetables.
3. Once chicken is cooled, pull off the thighs and wings, cut apart the breasts, and place in a baking pan (this part is optional). In a 400° oven, roast the chicken pieces, skin on, for 30~40 minutes until skin is crispy and browned. Let the chicken cool again. Once cooled, take off the skin and shred the meat into medium pieces. add a little of the broth from the pot and scrape up the drippings from the bottom of the baking pan. Place the scrapings and shredded chicken into the pot and let cook with the vegetables for about 1~2 more hours. Season with salt and pepper to taste. When ready to serve, add 1/4~1/2 C heavy cream and in each bowl grate some fresh parmesan or pecorino romano cheese. Place a piece of crusty bread in the bowl and enjoy!

I made some Irish Soda bread (which was very very dense and tasted almost like pancakes--very similar ingredients) with this, which was really simple, but some ciabatta (which has a good crust and is chewy inside) or good french bread (whcih is much lighter in the middle) would be great, too.