Chicken soup !

I was told that when I went on this Chef trip thing (!!!!???) that if I could make a really nice sauce and a really good soup I would never go hungry as a Chef so to speak.

Its fair to say that their are many things you need to learn as a Chef but I think these two skills are possibly the best weapons to have in your culinary CV.

In the case of sauces to be able to make them from initially making a stock that may be used in the sauce to knowing what sauces go with each type and cut of meat is a skill and knowledge well worth learning.

Soups you may think are the ugly sister of cooking and in some kitchens it involves the chef going through his fridge and looking at all his old unused and unsold veg that he has prepped and chucking it into a pan, then he puts a huge block of Vegetable Bouillon paste into it fills it with water then boils it for hours mainly because he forgot he had it on the stove while he takes his many morning cigarette breaks and his other many (sometimes !!!???) service prep jobs. He comes back to what can only be described as a pan of boiling sweaty sock water, then he sticks his high powered blender into the pan which resemble more of a speedboat power motor and blends it until its pure grey ! UMMMM !

Its at this point he has to put cream into the soup to try and give it some kind of sophistication and flavour trouble is if he does it then becomes unavailable for people with a dairy allergy ! and then he has to be careful that he has not put too much liquid into his soup so he doesn't have to thicken it with flour therefore unavailable to people with a gluten allergy !

So as you can now see something that you though was easy to do my friend is not at all....or is that me just trying to pad out my highly skilled profession again !! ha ha !

Flour is generally not a problem in making soups but on this occasion while making Chicken Soup it is. Dairy produce on the other hand is. Not cream but butter. Butter will give your Soups a lovely richness to them. Yes the calorie police will be pulling me over as I write for saying that but its true. 

Today I made Chicken and Chive Soup. again you don't tend to put meat into your soups at work because then it's not suitable for Vegetarians !!!! I give up ! ha ha 

Chicken Soup

First you need to cook a Chicken. In a pan saute off some carrots, celery and onion. I also added a whole bulb of garlic which I had sliced the end off revealing the bulbs.

After about 8 minutes I then add my whole Chicken and colour it as if I was sealing some steak.

Now add some aromatics !!!! some Thyme !

Now cover your chicken in cold water and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for about 2 hours or so. If you cook the the chicken for 3-5 hours you will have a better stock but a very dry chicken so this is a bit of compromise.

 

Now remove your Chicken from your pot and pass the liquid through a colander into a tub. Discard the vegetables from the pot. When the chicken has cooled strip it of every tasty morsel of meat you can find

OK stage two of the soup making process begins that's assuming you have not got bored already and opened a tin of Chicken soup instead ! You need to make a Roux. This is basically the process that is going to thicken your nicely made chicken stock that you kept from when you cooked the chicken.
So add a block of butter to a deep pan and melt. Now add 250 grams of plain flour.




Mix until you have a sandy coloured paste. Allow to cook for a few minutes to get rid of any floury taste.

Now start pouring your reserved Chicken stock into your Roux a cup full at a time stirring constantly so it does not catch on the bottom of the pan. Cowboy Billy time ! YEEEEHAAAA !

I dont recomend this if you have not made a sauce using the roux method before but quite often I will make my Roux paste then pour the amount of liquid I think I will need to get the right consistency for my sauce into the pan in one. I then turn the heat up on the stove to full and stir like crazy for a minute until it bubbles and then take it off the heat and use my blender to get a smooth consistency to my sauce. It takes minutes compared to the 20 minutes or so it would normally take if you followed the goodie two shoes book known as "Practical Cookery book 1" which is the bible of the student catering world !

When you have combined the liquid and you have a smooth velvety texture and something which resembles the consistency of soup stop adding any left over stock. Generally as a rule as you add your chicken stock and the liquid starts to bubble it will not thicken anymore so if its still too thick add another ladle of stock until you have the thickness you require.

Now you need to add all the shredded Chicken you collected from the Chicken and stir into your sauce.

Allow to cook for a further 30 minutes and now taste your  work of art. Yes I hear you shout it lacks depth ! Body ! Flavour you know the minor things in cooking !!! ha ha !
Yes its strange to say but even after making your chicken stock you will have to still add some Chicken Bouillon powder or paste to give your soup a Chickeny (Another no point score on Countdown for Kev !) flavour.
Next add some double cream to your soup and stir. This not only gives the soup some more richness but also lightens the colour of the soup from a brown colour to a rather pleasing Ivory colour ! Now finish with some finely chopped Chives.

This is a bit of a long process to make a soup I know but isn't this what cooking is all about taking time and care cooking something to bring joy to friends and family and more importantly yourself...enjoy !