Here's another...I think it came from this forum years and years ago....still wait8ing for Ann T to post...*wink* Ginger Carrot Soup 2 tablespoons sweet cream butter 2 onions, peeled and chopped 6 cups chicken broth 2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger 1 cup whipping cream Salt and white pepper Sour cream Parsley sprigs, for garnish In a 6-quart pan, over medium high heat, add butter and onions and cook, stirring often, until onions are limp. Add broth, carrots, and ginger. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until carrots are tender when pierced. Remove from heat and transfer to a blender. Don't fill the blender more than half way, do it in batches if you have to. Cover the blender and then hold a kitchen towel over the top of the blender*. Be careful when blending hot liquids as the mixture can spurt out of the blender. Pulse the blender to start it and then puree until smooth. Return to the pan and add cream, stir over high heat until hot. For a smoother flavor bring soup to a boil, add salt and pepper, to taste. Ladle into bowls and garnish with dollop sour cream and parsley sprigs. *When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid. This prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth. Recipe courtesy Maxine Bonneau Show: All American Festivals Episode: Carrot Festival

You can use any part of a chicken that you find on sale for making chicken broth. I buy packages of chicken necks & backs just for making broth. Not a whole lot of meat, but it really doesn't matter if you simmer the broth for several hours. By the time you're done, the meat has pretty much given up all its flavor. If your goal is to make broth & use the meat for soup, I think legs, and especially thighs, are a good choice. They are more flavorful than breasts and hold up to long cooking. As far as too much broth, you don't need to fill your dutch oven. Just make the amount of water equal to what you want to finally end up with. Or, you could make a larger amount and freeze the extra broth. However, there's absolutely no reason why you can't use a smaller saucepan with just a few pieces of chicken. I think browning the chicken pieces either in the stock pot or in the oven adds a richer flavor to the chicken broth. I always include a chunked up carrot, onion, and celery stalk, along with a bay leaf, some whole black peppercorns, and a couple of whole allspice. The longer you simmer the broth, the deeper and fuller the flavor. I usually strain the broth using a strainer lined with some cheesecloth & toss all the solids. However, if I have used some really meaty chicken pieces, I remove the bones & skin and set the meat aside for use later. Then I refrigerate the broth overnight & scrape off the congealed fat. If I'm making soup with the strained & de-fatted broth, I'll use fresh vegetables.

Curious what you mean by just broth. Or do you mean boneless chicken parts. Or do you mean canned broth. I make a vegetable stock all the time using vegetable scraps. Both ends of a large onion and the first outer ring with the skins, top and bottom of a whole celery, a couple whole carrots, (they are cheap), parsley stems. Peppercorns, coriander seed, a couple bay leaves, thyme...i usually have green leek tops. I like cilantro stems for that zip-zing. Like Lindac mentioned, poaching your chicken makes a nice delicate broth full of flavor. Using bones gives a much better flavor but still good by poaching with veggies and no bones. Poach chicken in the veg stock, remove when done, let cool while simmering the broth and preparing the soup veggies. Veggie stock just takes 45min-1 hour. Strain stock, (chicken-n-rice soup?), add rice and cook in broth till tender, then add your fresh saute veggies and chopped chicken. It is a very simple clear broth soup. A classic 'ladies lunch' soup in NYC. Light, not fatty. Usually a garnish of parsley and a slice of lemon. Chive sprig, lol.

We've had lots of discussions about the difference between stock and broth (not much, but "stock" usually refers to something used as an ingredient and broth is used to mean a finished rich plain soup). We also talked about why "bone" up topic. Some are made with mostly bones and are cooked a very long time to get the minerals out of the bones. Others are made with mostly meat or meaty bones and are cooked for less time, until the meat is all cooked out and what bones there are have yielded flavor but aren't soft and/or friable unless they're tiny. A third option is made with mostly bones and vegetables, but not cooked long enough to really pull all the minerals out of the bones. The first one is "bone" because it's about the bones. And often broth because it's meant to be consumed straight as soup.