Chicken and Corn Soup

Despite the fact that it has been hotter than the hinges of hell the last few days, I made more soup. This soup isn't the light and delicate cream soup that readers might be accustomed to in the summertime. It's hefty, hearty soup more like a stew than anything else. It's definitely a cold weather kind of a soup, except it calls for the corn from six ears of corn. That is a summer thing. The wise person will not buy corn on the cob in January. The stores carry it, sometimes, but the results are awful.
This is farmer food. Tables laden high with biscuits and corn on the cob and three or four different kinds of vegetables. But, thanks to air conditioning, it is also good for dinner in August as a main course. The recipe says to cook the corn on the cob in the chicken broth. My pot wasn't big enough, and there wasn't enough chicken broth. I just cooked the corn separately and scraped it off the cob, burning my fingers in the process.

Chicken and Corn Soup

1 five pound chicken, cut into serving pieces
salt to taste
12 peppercorns
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 carrots quartered
1 onion
6 ears of corn on the cob
2 hard cooked eggs, chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
1 cup cubed cooked ham

1. Place the chicken in a kettle. Add water to cover, salt, peppercorns, celery, carrots and onion. Simmer until the chicken is thoroughly tender.
2. Strain the broth and pour it into a clean kettle. Simmer while preparing the remaining ingredients.
3. Remove the chicken from the bones and skin and cut the chicken meat into bite-size pieces.
4. Shuck the corn and drop it into the kettle. Bring just to a boil. Scrape the kernels from the cobs into the soup. Add the chicken and remaining ingredients. Serve piping hot.
Makes eight to one dozen servings.