Chicken vegetable soup from a whole chicken

Put the whole chicken in the biggest pot with its juices and the giblets; add an old half onion if there is one.

Fill slowly with cool water. Heat on high with the lid on; once bubbling, reduce to a spirited simmer, cover and cook an hour or two until the chicken is very soft.

Meanwhile prep the vegetables in big chunks, since they shrink: zucchini, sliced celery ribs (leaves saved), small onions in half-moons, chopped garlic, carrots in rounds, and peeled parsnips quartered and sliced. Use at least as much raw weight of vegetables as chicken.

Drain the broth from the cavity and lift out the chicken; remove the old onion and other solids. Strain or skim if wanted; stirring in an egg or two and simmering a minute traps particulates to skim off. Leave the fat.

Add all the vegetables with a couple of big pinches of salt and simmer at least half an hour until soft; add water later if needed.

Pick the cooled chicken meat off the bones by hand, discarding skin, fat and cartilage; chop across the pile of meat so it does not form long strings, and add it to the soup.

Taste and add more salt, plenty of pepper and turmeric.

At the last minute add the saved celery leaves and parsley. Ladle out; finish a bowl with parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Variation: brown the bones and scraps in the oven, simmer a couple of hours and strain for a second stock.