Hi all; had a busy couple of weeks here in Canterbury. Robbie's mates have been up to visit, I've been up and down the hill to uni what feels like millions of times, Robbie's started his new job and I've now been given a deadline for two essays too - hectic!
Today I've been busy - okay, a student's definition of "busy" perhaps - dashing to my lecture (this is a long and up-hill trek, I'll have you know) before coming home, squeezing in time to bake brownies, then summoning up remaining energy to go swimming for an hour afterwards. Currently I'm procrastinating by writing this blog, therefore delaying the moment I will start writing my first essay. Also, if you were wondering, yes, the swimming is basically in the hope of cancelling out the effect of scoffing one's body-weight in chocolate brownies.
Anyway, after the long haul this morning I came home and had a gorgeous lunch ready with absolutely zero effort on my part (other than nuking it in the microwave for 8mins) - the chicken soup I made early last week and froze in portions. Having made a roast chicken dinner Sunday for two, there was plenty of meat on the bird leftover to tear into soup, and with the carcass leftover I saw a great opportunity to make some nice stock.* So, at last, this is the recipe I wanted to share with you all today:
*If you don't have leftover chicken to hand but fancy this recipe - just fry a chicken breast or two on a high heat (on the hob) until the meat is white all the way through (not pink) and the outside is browning, then chop into bitesize chunks ready to pop in your soup.
*Makes 4 large portions*
2 medium-size onions - chopped finely
2 cloves garlic - chopped finely
3 leeks - chopped roughly
1.5l homemade chicken stock (2 chicken stock cubes in 1.5l boiling water would do fine otherwise)
Leftover cooked chicken meat - torn/sliced into strips
1 large (rather giant, actually) potato, peeled and sliced thinly
1tsp each of dried rosemary and thyme
1 large tsp 'Very lazy chilli' (or 1 chopped fresh chilli)
Splash of Worcestor sauce
Lots of pepper and 1 large pinch salt
Should probably say at this point, make sure your leftover stock and meat haven't been in the fridge for more than 3 days, just to be safe
1. Fry your onion, garlic and leek in a little oil until well-browned and softened
2. Pour your stock into the saucepan with the veg, before stirring thoroughly and seasoning with the herbs, chilli, salt, pepper and a dash of Worcestor sauce
3. Slice your potato (very thinly) into the soup, stirring again so the potato doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Allow the soup to reach boiling point before leaving it to simmer in the pan for 30-40mins, allowing the flavours to intensify and the potato to cook well
4. When you want to eat, simply add the chicken (which is already cooked and ready to eat) to the soup and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes, so as the chicken is heated through entirely (you don't want your chicken in the soup for the whole 40min cooking time, though, as it would strip all the flavour and texture from the meat). Season again with pepper before serving
5. If freezing portions: leave the soup to cool for 1hr maximum (you don't want bacteria etc.) and place in tupperware pots or double-bagged freezer-bags (in case of spillage), before placing in your freezer. Simply remove the soup container from the freezer the day before you want to eat it and leave it in the fridge to thaw overnight. Then seriously microwave it the next day when you're hungry - I microwaved mine for 8mins, full power, to get it at boiling temp, stirring well every 2mins. This is necessary; if the soup is only microwaved to warm-ish temperatures, bacteria can linger. So blast it until it's steaming and the spoon you're stirring it with is pretty much painful to touch when removed from the soup (do try not to burn/scald yourself either though, while I'm on a health-and-safety rant - boiling soup is so painful if spilt on you)
PS: The floaty dark specks are dried rosemary by the way. If you like your soups thick-textured (rather than thinner, with bits), simply blend the soup after the 40mins simmering time, then continue from 4. as normal
Hope you enjoy. It's really rather lovely, especially now the weather's getting depressingly cold, and it's also extremely convenient for a quick lunch. So very handy for students like me who are on the run all day long (ha ha). I'll put the choccy brownie recipe on here soon, don't worry. ;)
Maddie
*
PS: Here's what I had for lunch a few days ago - Nigella Lawson's idea (Nigella Express) - a naan bread "pizza". It was bloody fantastic! I didn't bother with toppings, but literally just whacked the grill on full heat, spread a naan with a bit of tomato puree (ketchup would do) and tore some mozzarella on top (grated cheese works just as well - I've already tried). Grill for about 4mins. Pizza - in an instant. It's a miracle.
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