The best chicken soup of all is made with home made chicken stock. This is really easy to make and is much nicer than any stock cube known to man. Strip any remaining meat from a roasted chicken carcass and set to one side; place the chicken bones and carcass in a large casserole, add two roughly chopped onions, a few cloves of garlic and some herbs and spices (sage, rosemary, marjoram, peppercorns etc – whatever you like), cover with water and allow to simmer in a low oven for a few hours.
If you're feeling extravagant, you could always add a whole chicken to the mix for a couple of hours and then use the poached chicken meat as an addition to your soup, or for a pie or savoury pancake filling, leaving the bones for the stock as described above.
Chicken Soup with Barley
Barley is an ancient, tasty and nutritious grain; it has a nutty flavour which goes particulalrly well with chicken. To prepare for soup, put about 2 oz barley in a medium sized bowl and cover with boiling water. Allow to soak for half an hour before adding to the soup mix.
Soup Recipe
- 3 pts of home made chicken stock (see above)
- 2 washed and finely chopped leeks
- 2 chopped onions
- 3 medium sized potatoes roughly cubed and par boiled for five minutes
- 2 oz barley
- 2 cups chopped cooked chicken
herbs and spices to taste (these are whatever you prefer or whatever you have to hand; sage, rosemary and thyme all go well with chicken, but one or two cloves or a piece of star anise can also add interesting flavour)
Add all the ingredients to a large casserole and allow to simmer on a low heat (either in a low oven or on top of a low flame) for two hours. Be careful with the heat, the soup can simmer but not boil.
Dumplings: Ingredients
- 2 oz butter
- 4 oz plain flour,
- 1 tsp grated lemon rind
- 1 tbsp of chopped herbs (parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme - strip the leaves off the stems before chopping to avoid twiggy bits in the dumplings)
- 1 large or 2 small eggs
- 1 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
Dumplings: Method
Have a large pan of boiling water on the stove ready to cook the dumplings. These need to be made quite quickly and kept at a boil for at least five minutes before transferring to the simmering soup.
Work the flour into the softened butter with a spoon. Add the herbs, lemon rind, baking powder and salt and blend those in too. Add the egg and mix to a soft consistency (not too sticky, it should be similar to a scone mixture; if it seems too wet, add a little bit more flour).
Pinch off walnut sized pieces of dumpling dough, roll into balls and drop into the boiling water. You will probably need to cook the dumplings in three or four batches. The key to light dumplings is to keep them boiling until they're cooked through (they wil float to the surface of the boiling water quite quickly, but keep them boiling for a few minutes before transferring them to the simmering soup.)
Cook the soup at a low simmer for another half an hour with the dumplings.
Serve with a splash of cream and a sprinkle of fresh herbs for a little extra luxury.
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