Meh. I make soup that tastes good and most people like it. If I’m doing it wrong, it’s because my nice Jewish grandmother taught me that way.
And, FTR, I leave the veggies in fairly large chunks and add them toward the end so they don’t get mushy. Ditto for noodles. I like soft veggies, not baby food.
Robin
Ah, we make chicken soup two different ways, then. I make a broth/stock to begin with as a base. That includes your mirepoix, your bouquet garni, all your chicken parts, etc. That gets strained so a broth/stock is left. But the veggies are in the long simmering mixture the whole time.
When it’s time to make chicken soup, I’ll either put in fresh chicken or the poached chicken (although most of the flavor from that has been extracted completely.) A new round of veggies is added and cooked to a consistency that is not mush. Noodles get cooked separately, otherwise, the soup gets all starchy, mushy, and no longer keeps its clear appearance.
My method for the “golden” color is to create as clear a bone stock as I can. Almost no color, gels very thick when chilled.
I pull about a cup or so of the strained broth off and reduce it slowly in a frying pan. Heres where you watch carefully. Reduce until all the liquid is gone. It will begin to brown in the pan. When it turns a nice yellow/tan, deglase the pan with some hot stock. (a few ounces) Return to stock pot.
You you can then add your picked meat back in and finish with your chosen vegetables.
For our family’s stock, which we prepare in bulk from the ‘bone bag’ in the freezer, **requires **roasted bones.
Take all the leftover bones from anything you ever make (steak, roasts, chickens, turkeys, pork), and dump them on a cookie sheet or two. Roast at 350F until slightly brown. (20-40 minutes depending on size/amount) Dump it all in the stockpot, and scrape in all of the bits left on the pan with some wine, or water.
Add the aforementioned onion, carrot, celery, peppercorns, garlic, and a few herbs (we like thyme & rosemary) and heat to just before the boil (simmer), hold there, uncovered for the next 2-8 hours (no rush to get it done, do some other chores). Once in a while, come by, and remove any scum from the top.
Strain it all into another pot (cheese cloth in a strainer work great), chill, and skim the fat.
We ladle it into 1qt ziplock bags and freeze flat. Label them with the date, and they’ll keep for about a year. Not that they’d ever last that long in my house. Add to anything, or use as soup base, gravy base, rice water… etc.