CHICKEN SOUP Mmmmm

My bride Sue Ann and I enjoy making chicken soup, an old timey Jewish medicine since the 12TH century. Here is our recipe.
All of the ingredients should be organic, and you will need to have:

Two 32 FL OZ (1QT) containers of organic chicken broth. We prefer Imagine brand.
Two cups of sliced organic carrots.
One cup of sliced organic celery.
Four cups of diced organic potatoes.
Four skinless, boneless, organic chicken breasts.
Dried seasonings include: Parsley, Thyme, Oregano, Dill, and Turmeric.
One pat of real, honest to goodness, butter. If you can afford organic butter, please do so. Otherwise, use your favorite brand of butter. (Note: Omitting butter, or using margarine will ruin the recipe.)

Add broth to a large stew pot with lid. While the broth is heating on medium heat:

Peel, trim and wash the carrots, slice into desired thickness. We like 3/8 to 1/2 of an inch.
Peel, trim and wash the celery, slice into desired thickness. We like 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch.
Peel the potatoes, dice into desired thickness, and rinse. We like 3/4, to 1–inch cubes.

Add the carrots to the broth, adjust heat to bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, add the celery, reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 10 minutes, then add the potatoes and the dry spices: (Two teaspoons of dried Parsley flakes. One half teaspoon each of: Thyme, Oregano, Dill and Turmeric), and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, based on the thickness of the celery, carrots and potatoes. Note: some folks like chunkier pieces of vegetables. That is OK, just adjust your cooking time to make sure they cook.

While the vegetables are getting acquainted with the broth, trim the chicken breasts of any and all “pet food” items. Those are the fat, pieces of gristle or bone and any other of the “ugly things” that are found on boneless, skinless, chicken breasts. I like to use kitchen scissors for this task.

Once the chicken is almost pristine in appearance, I use the scissors to cut random chunks of “bite–sized” chicken pieces into the soup mixture. Add the butter.

Cook the complete mixture, covered, on simmer, for another half an hour, stirring every now and then to make sure all the ingredients are getting happy...

“The nose knows,” but at the end of a half hour, you can turn off the heat, and serve. Add salt and pepper to taste to your individual bowl of soup.

It is a good idea to serve this with good quality sour dough French bread, slathered with butter or olive oil – whichever you prefer. I like both. As Julia used to say, Bon Appetite!

Note: we do not add raw onion or garlic to this soup, because those can cause flatulence. Also, you can cut the recipe in half to make a smaller batch or double it for a bigger batch.

Here are links to additional reading on the subject.
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/diet.fitness/10/17/chicken.soup.reut/
http://chestjournal.chestpubs.org/content/119/4/1295.1.full
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/culture/2/Food/Ashkenazic_Cuisine/Poland_and_Russia/chickensoup.shtml

Let me know how this works for you!