I like to eat the chicken in the soup. I also rarely have time to simmer the broth for 6-8 hours. And I like my broth hearty, without the need for little cubes of chicken broth to enhance my own broth.

Matzo balls are a whole different story--why do they come out like lead weights, you ask? Be sure to refrigerate them before immersing in hot broth, is my one and only tip. I leave the matzo balls to professionals, the bubbies who made this soup famous. Really, if you just follow the recipe on the back of the matzo meal package, paying careful attention to refrigerating the mixture, they will come out light and fluffy, truly!
 

But anyone can do the broth...

1 whole chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds) (you can also use chicken pieces, legs, thighs, etc).

water--ONLY ENOUGH TO COVER THE CHICKY

1 large whole onion, peeled

2-4 celery stalks

3-4 carrots, sliced

Seasonings (to taste - see below)

Remove any giblets from the chicken and any large pieces of fat. Rinse the chicken.
 

Drop the chicken in a soup pot large enough so the whole chicken fits comfortably and snugly. A large fryer will fit pretty well in an eight quart pot. Use ONLY enough water to cover the chicken and not an ounce more. (You can always add liquid later, if you want or believe you need to!) Add the onion.

Cover the pot and bring the soup to a boil. Once it is boiling, lower the heat until the soup is simmering.
 

You will only have enough time to read one section of the N.Y. Times, or one or two long articles; the soup is only going to simmer for ONE HOUR, at this point. Before you go out, or go to bed, remove it from the heat, let it cool a bit, and put it in the refrigerator. Once it starts to cool off--only enough so you don't scald your fingers--remove all the breast meat and maybe some meat from the thighs. Put the bones back in the pot.
 

In a couple of hours, or next morning, when you get up, there should be a nice layer of fat that has hardened on the surface of the soup. This you should remove. What to do with it is another story. All of our esteemed grandmas, known respectfully and lovingly as bubbies (because they were our good friends, not just ancient and  esteemed relatives), used the chicken fat as the basis for a Jewish delicacy called Schmaltz.
 

In homage to the closure of the Second Avenue Deli in Lower Manhattan during the first week of 2006, I encourage you to take the chicken skin, throw it into the hot chicken fat, and crisp up the skin. Yes, you can put it on some paper towels once it gets golden brown to soak up a bit of that fat. But this is about joy as the path to true health, not about survival of the body and its organs, which can be overvalued by the materialists.  You aren't a materialist, are you?!
 

Put the schmaltz on a cracker, call your cardiologist, and tell him or her you intend to live to be 675 years old, like the patriarchs, and wash it all down with some good vodka. When you see Shem bin Noah, the famous rescue greyhound of Brickyard, remember he is named after people who lived hundreds of years on foods that tasted good!
 

Once the fat is skimmed, put the pot back on the stove and start the simmering all over again. But now you can add the carrots, celery, etc. If you add anything else, you are a heretic. I love heretics. Feel free to add any form of plant life that strikes your fancy, but remember it is going to simmer for another hour.
 

Add the seasoning, now. For me, salt, and pepper are a must. Feel your blood pressure pushing upwards! You are alive! Now, some  bay leaves. The more timid among us, are satisfied with dill. Try them both, and add thyme, too; they all work fine, for me, and my relatives never seem to complain!Experiment with gusto, use too much, and get booed away from the table--or use just a little bit of one herb, and accept your compliments knowing you have taken the easy way.
 

As you can imagine, I don't encourage being shy about using a lot of spice and herbs for a pretty big pot of soup, and I also remind you that enough salt makes the soup's ingredients work together in harmony. Let it simmer for only one more hour. It will be even better, tomorrow, it is true, as the seasonings blend with the stock. But you are trying to preserve the flavor of the chicken, too!
 

Remove all the vegetables except the carrots, if you are a traditionalist. True, the celery is just kind of stringy and the parsnips--well, you decide. Let the soup cool enough so you can get the bones separated from the remaining meat, and discard the bones at this point. Put all the chicken meat back in the soup, cutting it up as you wish. That is a key aspect of this recipe, so I cannot encourage you in the direction of chicken salad sandwiches.
 

Whatever recipe you use, you will end up with a lovely golden broth that cures all ills and brings pleasure second only to a good roll in the hay. And remember, all good things are better the second time around!