It is that time of year: Soups and stews
to keep us warm are what we all start to long for. This week it’s a fairly
traditional recipe, known in many lands, a simple chicken soup. But with a
twist, a touch of luxury and some class
Photo © Serious Eats
Also known as Feather Fowlie in Scotland, it is
said that Mary Queen of Scots insisted that it was given a French touch and she
added the cream. Perfect if you are Banting too. (Well not counting the breadcrumbs
and croutons).
1 onion - 3 carrots - 2 turnips – 3
sticks of celery – 1 boiling chicken, 2 to 2.5 kilos in weight - 10 black
peppercorns – 3 allspice berries - a bouquet garni – ½ level teaspoon of sea
salt - 50g ground almonds – 30g fresh white breadcrumbs – 150 ml double cream –
salt and white pepper
Roughly chop the vegetables. Put the cleaned
chicken into a large soup pan, with the vegetables, peppercorns, bouquet garni.
Cover with cold water and bring to the boil over a high heat. Make sure you
remove any scum from the surface, then lower the heat to a simmer, and cover
with a lid. Continue cooking until the chicken is tender. Lift it carefully out
of the stock and let it cool. Take off the skin and remove all the flesh off
the carcass. Remove any peppercorns or allspice berries you see and the bouquet
garni. Put the chicken meat into a liquidiser with the drained vegetables and
purée till smooth.
Put the purée into a clean pan and add the almonds
and the breadcrumbs. Carefully strain about 600 ml of the stock and stir it
into the soup. Simmer over a low heat for about 30 minutes. Just before you
serve the soup, remove a cup of it and blend it with the cream, then stir this
back into the soup. Adjust the seasoning to your taste. Serve garnished with
chopped parsley or chives and with crisp croutons. Serves 6. It might be nice to serve this with a small glass of malt whisky....
Bouquet Garni: A small bunch of sprigs of fresh herbs, wrapped in a 5 cm piece of celery and a bay leaf and tied up with a long bit of string, so that it’s easy to remove from your dish. You can use rosemary, thyme, parsley, marjoram. It adds lovely flavour to soups and stews
© John & Lynne Ford, Adamastor & Bacchus 2018
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