Creamy Chicken Soup

There are those days when nothing will soothe your soul quite like a steaming bowl of thick, creamy chicken soup.  Today, for me, is one of those days.

This is one of my staples to make when I've got leftover roast chicken.  I pick all the meat I can off the carcass then make stock by boiling up all the bones and bits for a good few hours.  Sometimes I will add bay leaves, carrots, celery, onion and maybe some other fresh herbs to the stock for extra flavour but most often I just go for pure chicken goodness.  Top tip - make the stock the day before you want to use it, strain and chill it overnight, then in the morning you can scrape the solidified fat off the top.

This soup is completely open to variations with the addition of other vegetables or herbs, I have suggested a few below.  On this occasion however, I'm going old-school, no messing around, I'm feeling traditional...

 

Ingredients

2 Large Brown Onions, roughly chopped

3-4 Sticks of Celery (if you have it in, it's not essential)), roughly chopped

2 cloves of Garlic, minced

50g Butter

4 tablespoons Plain Flour

100ml White Wine

2 pints (approx. 1 litre) Good Flavourful Chicken Stock

150-200g Cooked Chicken (breast, thigh or leg meat), cut into chunky pieces

150ml Double Cream

Lemon Juice

Salt and Black Pepper 

• Melt the butter in a saucepan on a low heat then tip in the onions and celery (if using), cook slowly for a few minutes then add the garlic and a good seasoning of salt and black pepper.  Continue to cook gently, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes.
• Turn the heat up slightly then add the flour to the pan, stir vigorously for about 20 seconds to incorporate it and cook the flour slightly, then pour in the white wine.  Let this bubble for a minute or two then pour in the chicken stock and stir well.
• Bring to the boil then cook on a medium heat for around 15 minutes until the vegetables are completely tender and the stock has reduced a little.
• Let the soup cool a little then blend until smooth with either a hand (stick) blender or a jug blender, if you have neither you can push it through a sieve.
• Pour the cream into the soup and add the chicken, then slowly bring back up to the boil.
• At this point if the soup is not as thick as you would like, mix a few tablespoons of plain flour with some double cream, milk or water into a smooth paste then stir it into the soup.
• When the thickness of the soup is to your liking stir in the juice of half a lemon then taste.  It will probably need more salt and pepper and maybe another squeeze of lemon.
• Bring back to the boil then serve steaming hot...and relax.

 

Variations

-Chicken and Leek - Use 2-3 leeks as well as the onions then only blend half the soup for a chunkier texture.
-Chicken and Mushroom - Add loads of mushrooms to the onions and cook down until all the liquid evaporates before adding the flour and continuing as above.  Also lovely with the addition of some chopped fresh sage or thyme.
-Chicken and Tarragon - Add a handful of chopped fresh tarragon leaves to the onions and add a dollop of Dijon mustard to the soup.  This is also very good with crème fraiche instead of double cream.