You'll be wanting some matzo balls with that . . .
Ok, first the soup: if you can find 'em buy chicken necks, backs, wings--they're really cheap (even kosher ones) and have loads of gelatin in them. Don't bother boiling anything with a lot of meat on it---it's the bones and skin make the soup. If you can only get a chicken in 8 parts, pull most of the meat off first and fridge it for later, and then boil the carcass.
Anway, start in cold water, add bones and salt. Add onions, carrots, parsnip and celery. Simmer very slowly, a really long time. It's edible in about 1/2 hour, better in a whole hour, heaven after about 6. For me, easiest thing is to stick it in a slow oven abut 275 degrees for about 6 hours. Water should just barely be bubbling--hardly moving even, but warm enough not to be a breeding ground for icky. It's important that everything be submerged--drop a heat proof dish into the broth on top of the veg/bones to keep everything under water. Near the end, taste and adjust the salt, add pepper, sage, rosemary, parsley etc. to taste. Or not.
Also, if you want more meat in your soup, cut up the meat you stripped from the bones in step 1, and then poach it lightly in the broth for about 20 minutes near the end.
MEANWHILE (and this is the important part) make matzo balls: in a small bowl beat 2 eggs with 2 TBS oil until really well blended. Then add 1 tsp salt and 2 TBS water (or some of the cooled stock if you've got it) Beat it all smooth before adding in 1/2 cup matzo meal. Stir really well, cover, put it in the fridge and let it sit AT LEAST 15 minutes. Get a large pot full of salted water boiling and make sure you know where the lid is--you'll need it. When the 15 minutes are done, start rolling the matzo mixture into walnut sized balls. I use a small cookie scoop to measure them out, and then get my hands wet and hand roll them until they are smooth. Then drop them into the boiling water, [note--drop each one in as you roll it and move quickly so they all hit the water within a short time--don't try to roll them all out first and then put them in--the early ones will dry out too much] and reduce heat to very low simmer, and put the lid on tight and don't even think about lifting it to peek for about 20 minutes. The water must be boiling before you put them in, and it must not be allowed to get above a simmer after they go in, so use your ears to keep track of what's going on.
When they are done, serve them floating in your soup. Or on a plate with a lot of gravy, and perhaps a sprinkle of parsley.
If this is your first time doing this, don't be surprised if you get them too heavy or too loose--the only way to learn the exact measurements is to make a few batches, and pretty soon you'll know when the mixture "feels right" during the rolling stage. If it's too dense, it needs a little more water or they come out like lead. If it's too wet (or the water isn't boiling)they will fall apart and you'll get mush. So add some more meal. If you make them too grandiose in size, it's hard to get them to cook all the way through and you get dry bits in the middle. If the water is boiling too hard, the egg cooks hard before the matzo meal can fluff up, and you get golf balls. (Sounds like I've made all of the above mistakes, right?) There is a reason the bragging rights for perfect fluffy matzo balls exclusively belong to experienced cooks (like Grandmas). New cooks can make decent ones, however, especially with all of the above tips--and every reasonably decent matzo ball should be appreciated as a minor miracle. They are heavenly delicious, economical and filling. Serve these as a first course, and the main course will stretch a whole lot farther.
