Cream of chicken soup
The soup this book returns to more than any other
Doubles well in a larger pan. Freezes in individual portions for up to three months, without the reserved shredded chicken, which is better added fresh after reheating.
This is the soup to have a batch of in the freezer at all times, because it does more work than almost anything else in the book. Chicken poached gently in stock until it falls apart, peeled potato and carrot cooked down to nothing in the same pot, the whole thing blended completely smooth and then pushed through a sieve so not one stray fibre survives. Cream goes in at the end, off the heat, so it never has the chance to split. A little of the poached chicken, shredded fine, gets stirred back in after the sieve rather than blended away, so each bowl carries some protein you can actually feel as well as taste.
Ingredients
Contains: Milk, Celery
- 300 gchicken breast, skin removed
- 750 mlclear chicken stock, strained, or a good stock cube
- 200 gpotato, peeled and diced
- 150 gcarrot, peeled and diced
- 100 mldouble cream
- 15 gunsalted butter — optional
- salt
Method
Put the chicken and stock in a large pan and bring to a gentle simmer. Poach for 12 to 15 minutes, until the chicken is firm and there is no pink left at the thickest part, then lift it out onto a plate.
Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred it finely. Set two-thirds of it aside to stir back in later, and drop the rest into the stock.
Add the potato and carrot to the stock and simmer for 20 minutes, until a knife slides through both with no resistance at all.
Blend the soup completely smooth with a stick blender, then push it through a fine sieve into a clean pan, pressing well with the back of a ladle so nothing fibrous is left behind.
Stir in the cream and the reserved shredded chicken, and warm gently over a low heat without letting it boil.
Season with salt and finish with a knob of butter stirred through each bowl.
Watch-points
- Peel the potato and carrot, and cook them until a knife meets no resistance before you blend.
- Blend the soup completely smooth, then push it through a sieve. Nothing stringy should reach the bowl.
- Use a clear, strained stock with no vegetable pieces of its own.
- Cool what you are not eating within an hour, keep it covered in the fridge and eat it within two days. Make that one day if you are having chemotherapy. Reheat it until it steams.
Stoma note: Potato and cream make this a good choice on a loose day. The reserved shredded chicken adds protein without adding bulk.
Make it more nourishing
- Stir in an extra 50 ml of cream just before serving.
- Whisk 2 tablespoons of skimmed milk powder into the soup as it reheats. It adds around 6 g of protein and you will not taste it.
- Use a full 20 g of butter per bowl rather than a thin knob.
Swaps
- Instead of chicken breast, use chicken thigh fillets, skin removed
- thigh stays moister through a longer simmer
- Instead of double cream, use crème fraîche, or whole milk with a spoon of milk powder stirred in
- crème fraîche gives a slight tang, and milk keeps the soup lighter