Recipe: Yummy Mummy's chicken soup

There can be no better sound in the world, for a Mum at least, than to hear her offspring proclaim "Mmmm, yummy! More?" It just warms the cockles of your heart. Sure it isn't grammatically correct, but what more are you going to get from a two year old?

This is my Mum's recipe from when I was a kid. There's a lot of roughly-chopped vegetables and a fair bit of dolloping too so I've dispensed with the measurements. Grab some chicken pieces from the butcher's (or the supermarket if you must), stick them in a big pot and cover with water. Boil for one hour. Take them out again to cool.

Now, this is where my Mum and I go our separate ways for a bit - she throws out the chickeny water/stock and starts again (noooo!!) while I hold onto it and keep adding. I love the deliciously oily chicken fat slick on top of the water. It's so wintery and hearty. She hates it. Anyway, up to you.

Bung in some roughly chopped carrot, potato, turnip, onion and a handful of barley if you're so inclined (I usually am). Add a dollop or two of tomato sauce, a slurp of Worcestershire, some sugar, some seasoning, chicken/veggie/beef stock (I usually add a bit of all three) and boil for another hour, topping with water if needs be. Remove the meat from the chicken bones, chuck that in the pot too and you're pretty much done. Great frozen in individual servings for a quick lunch.