In the words of chef Tom Kerridge it’s “proper lush” … I mean who doesn’t like chicken soup, you can dress it up or down, make it spicy, herby, noodly (is that even a word??) One certainty is that you will without fail get “mouth beef” from eating it piping hot. For anyone not familiar with this term, and lets face it thats probs going to be most of you. It’s the concept of burning the roof of your mouth after eating something ridiculously hot and within minutes dealing with tendrils of skin coming loose from the upper portion of your mush – nice!
My husband is forever exclaiming that something I have made is gonge and will I cook it again (this is not me trying to tell you all I am wonderful!) of course I will but the likelihood is that it will not taste exactly the same the next time. Sure I can remember the ingredients but unless I specifically write down quantities dishes can never quite be recreated and taste different each time.
My chicken soup is pretty much like that. That’s why I call it “chicken leftover soup” it all depends what I have in. TBH you can’t really go wrong. It can be packed full of ingredients or be super simple. The kidlets love it too, which is a plus but I don’t give poppy that much as it takes way too long for her to eat. My children love bits of chicken, sweetcorn and peas in theirs. I often serve it up with some breadstick as these are good for dunking and don’t fill up little tummies in the same way bread does.
Now here I may come across as high maintenance but I usually only buy posh grisini, Waitrose and Ocardo are great for specialist stuff like this. I love the really fat ones with olive oil and sesame seeds my parents bring back from Italy not the type we used to get handed out at baby groups which were often found days later stuffed into various pockets of my coat have chewed or crumbled so finely into powder at the bottom of my bag. Don’t pass the breadsticks by in the supermarket or online, they are good if you don’t want too many carbs. They alway bring another texture to soup which I think is really nice too.
http://www.waitrose.com/shop/DisplayProductFlyout?productId=408960
Here is the recipe its not exacting but just gives you an idea.
Use the stock you made from roasting your chicken
1 can canellini beans
I large handful of soya beans
leftover chicken (if you have it)
4 whole stalks and heads of tender stem broccoli
Salt and a good grinding of pepper.
Bung it all in together at the same time, whack the heat up to max until it starts boiling and then turn it down and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. It’s then good to go, but do watch your mouth!!
