In Asian culture, any broth made with bones by which collagen is extracted is considered very healthy and is often referred to as "soup of the gods". To get the most collagen and nutrients from the bones, crack them and add a bit of acidic food such as celery. The broth will taste richer and have a better mouth feel as well.
There are a thousand different ways to make a great broth, and everyone has a favorite. I would say that most of them a perfectly valid. Here's how I do mine. It gives me tender and flavorful meat, and a rich and healthy broth.
Purchase one whole chicken. Bone and skin it. Fry the skin in a dry pan until browned and crispy and throw it into a pot with a quart of water. add the bones and a stalk of sliced celery to the water, with any meat still sticking to it. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer over low heat until the broth has reduced by about half.
Remove from the heat and strain into a bowl. Refrigerate over night. The fat will float to the top and harden. This makes it easy to remove. When ready to make soup, reheat the broth and add your veggies, typically, carrot, onion, and celery. Some people add frozen peas and/or other veggies. Celery root is great in chicken soup. Chives is also a great addition. Season with garlic, salt, pepper, and onion to taste. I like to add a bit of thyme as well. When the veggies are nearly cooked, add the noodles, or rice, or barley, whatever you like in your soup. For a treat, make up some biscuit dough for dumplings If you are making dumplings, place spoonfuls of the dough into the soup and cover. Cook at a rapid boil for about seven minutes. Dice the chicken meat into half-inch cubes and saute' in a bit of butter until lightly browned. Put the soup into serving bowls and evenly distribute the chicken meat between them. Then everyone gets a wonderful broth with tender and succulent chicken meat, great veggies, and healthy noodles (I make my own from whole wheat, egg, salt, and water), nutritios pearl barley, or brown rice. And who can resist those wnderful dumplings if that's the route you take. Jsut remove the dumplings to a seperate bowl when they are done to keep them from getting soggy.
Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North