Until recently, I was not a soup person. I’d make soup maybe four times a year, or something like that. But two things changed me—one was reading French Women Don’t Get Fat. In there the author talks about how soup is a mainstay of French eating. It is so healthy and filling and low-fat (except cream soups, of course). The second thing that happened is I had the most amazing beef broth soup at a fancy restaurant. It was just the most delicious broth, with just a few tiny pieces of meat and vegetables floating in it.  That’s when I realized, that to make amazing soup, you have to have amazing broth for the base. Everything else can be messed with.

My cookbook Nourishing Traditions has a great section on making amazing broth. The trick is to take a whole day just to make good stock from the bones of several different animals. But you can also just use what you have. I might have some leftover chicken bones, or a couple of steak bones from one meal, but not enough, so I’ll throw them into a gallon ziplock and toss it in the freezer. Once I have quite a few bones in there, I can make stock. (I keep the poultry bones separate from the red meat bones.) Chicken stock is especially useful for fighting colds and flu—try to always have some frozen for reheating.

When you have a bagful of bones, take a day to make stock. Place the bones in the largest pot you have and cover it with filtered water, if you can. (Use tap water otherwise.) You can also purchase some marrow or soup bones from the grocer, or throw in a chunk of fresh meat with bones if you want to spend the money. If you want, you can just simmer this all day long (6-12 hours), adding more water when it cooks down too low (keep a loose lid on it while simmering). Add salt, peppercorns, a bay leaf or two, and fresh herbs if you have them.

To pack your stock with vitamins and minerals, add a bunch of vegetables with roots and skins to simmer all day with the bones. Onions halved or quartered, skins left on, is great. Also, garlic, halved lengthwise with skins left on. Carrots, celery & sweet potatoes are also good—throw them in, leaves and all. Just cut them into big chunks. If you have any leftover fresh vegetables that are starting to wilt, you can throw them in. Concentrate on vegetables with a high vitamin content—if they have a deep color, they have lots of vitamins. Avoid regular potatoes and corn.

You can simmer it all for 6-12 hours, the longer the better. Once you’re done, let it cool a bit, then strain. Discard all the bones & vegetables. Taste the stock and add bouillon for extra flavor—chicken if you used poultry bones, beef if you used red-meat bones. Salt and pepper to taste. You can also make a great vegetable stock with this same method, using all vegetables and herbs and no meat bones.

Refrigerate the stock overnight. The next day, skim off any congealed fat on the top. You can now use this to make Amazing Soup, or freeze it into quart-sized ziplock bags for later use.

When you’re sick, heat chicken or vegetable stock, season to taste, and sip it from a mug. Stock made from chicken, onions and garlic will help you to get better fast.