Best Chicken Noodle Soup!

Directions

1. 1
   Put whole chicken and broth in large pot over medium heat (be sure that the broth covers the chicken).
2. 2
   Roughly chop and add 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks and 1 onion.
3. 3
   Add peppercorns, garlic, 2 sprigs parsley, thyme, bay leaf.
4. 4
   Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cook, covered, 1 1/4 hours until chicken is tender.
5. 5
   Remove the chicken, strain the broth and discard the vegetables used to make the broth.
6. 6
   The meat should be falling off the bone from the chicken, chop the meat that you want in the soup and discard the rest.
7. 7
   Let broth rest a bit and skim fat from top (to be honest, I'm very lazy on this step and it never seems too fatty to me!).
8. 8
   Chop the remaining 2 onions, 4 carrots, 2 stalks celery.
9. 9
   Heat butter over medium heat, add the chopped vegetables and cook about 7 minutes, until onions are translucent.
10. 10
    Add the chicken meat, the broth, salt and pepper and the cayenne. I said 1/2 tsp of cayenne, but I probably use more (I like it to have a little heat!).
11. 11
    Simmer soup for 1 hour, covered.
12. 12
    Stir in noodles and cook about ten minutes (I also really like orzo for this soup, just be careful not to use too much or it will be more of a porridge!).