Old-Fashioned Chicken and Egg Noodle Soup

Season the drumsticks with half the salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat and brown the drumsticks 3 to 4 minutes per side, until the skin is golden in patches. Move them to a plate.

Tip: Brown in two batches if the pot is crowded, or the skin steams instead of colouring.

Lower the heat to medium, add the onion and celery to the fat in the pot and cook 6 to 7 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic and thyme and cook 1 minute, until fragrant.

Pour in the broth and water, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom. Return the drumsticks with their juices, add the bay leaves and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to low, partly cover and simmer 45 to 50 minutes, until the meat pulls away from the bone when nudged with a fork.

Tip: Keep it at a lazy simmer; a hard boil clouds the broth and toughens the meat.

Lift the drumsticks onto a cutting board and let them cool 10 minutes, until you can handle them. Pull off and discard the skin, bones and cartilage, then shred the meat into bite-size pieces with two forks. Remove and discard the bay leaves and skim the fat from the surface of the broth.

While the chicken cools, add the carrots to the broth, raise the heat to medium-high and simmer 5 minutes, until they are just starting to give when pierced with a knife.

Stir in the noodles and simmer over medium-high heat 7 to 8 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the noodles are tender and the carrots are soft but still hold their shape.

Return the shredded chicken to the pot and simmer 2 minutes over medium heat, until hot through. Stir in most of the parsley and season with the remaining salt and pepper.

Tip: The noodles keep drinking broth as they sit; add a splash of water when reheating leftovers.

Ladle the soup into deep bowls so each gets chicken, carrots and noodles, and finish with the rest of the parsley and a grind of black pepper.