Before you go assuming anything, I want you to know that I am a generous person, I have time, money and laughter to share freely, but recipes... are…different. I only cook things that I have played around with and perfected, I have many recipe books but usually I just use them as a guide and cook by the heart. So sharing MY recipes is more than a little personal.
Giving this to you today is a gesture of pure love. I love to cook, it is the heart of the home I make,
the soul of the body I love and,
the product of the earth I live on.You can tell I’m still struggling sharing this can't you.
OK so here goes it.
We often cook together over a bottle of wine, but we have very different cooking styles. Subsequently I love learning her ideas and exploring her reasoning behind the way she prepares food. I took her recipe and bastardised it to quell my winter desires.
Oh and one more thing... I don’t write recipes out properly… you didn’t honestly think I was going to make this easy for you did you??
Save my soul chicken Soup
What I love about this recipe is that it is lip smacking delicious, even the kids will polish off a bowl or three. Also it freezes really well and on top of all of this it’s incredibly healthy. YUM.
I like to prepare all my ingredients before I start cooking so you’re going to need to do some chopping first.
My rule with soups is that I never chop anything larger than the size I’d like to eat it off a spoon.
Three onions finely diced and three cloves of garlic in a pan with a big GLUG of olive oil and a few mean cracks of pepper. Only have the heat down low, our aim here is for the onions to go limp and smell gorgeous. No browning.
Now pour yourself a huge glass of wine and take a small sip. I’d recommend the Landhaus Grenache… lightly balanced with rich raspberry and cranberry elements, with a peppery finish it’s a great bottle for under twenty bucks.
Good. Puuurfect.
Chop the stems of a bunch of parsley as finely as you can. YES you heard me. STEMS. You don’t want the woody bits, just the bright green fresh bits. Small as you can, and then throw them in with the onions.
Stir stir stir.
Sip sip sip.
When it is all lovely and limp and the house is starting to smell like a proper Mammas house it’s time to add three litres of stock. I don’t make small amounts of soup... I mean what would be the point of that?
I don’t mind what kind of stock you use, for no reason I can pinpoint I like to use 1 litre of veg and 2 litres of chicken stock. My butcher makes his own stock and it’s very well priced, but if you are in no such luck and can’t make or buy fresh stock easily I encourage you to use the liquid stock over cubes. This is purely due to bias and general snobbery. I just think it tastes better.
Now Lid on the pot and turn the heat up high.
You have already chopped two carrots, two zucchini’s, a quarter of a cauliflower and the corn from two ears. You have stripped the skin off a bbq chicken throw away the filthy stuffing and coarsely shopped the meat. Every time I buy a BBQ chicken I remember my Dad watching me piece one up for the family when I was a teenager. I must have been wasteful, because he looked at me and said “...anyone could tell from looking at that, that you’ve never lived through a depression.”
It has stuck with me. SO I implore you scrape the meat of the bird and then glad wrap the carcass and put it in the freezer. Another day I’ll teach you to make stock with it. promise.
So all of our chopped items are sitting prettily on the bench. As soon as it starts to boil throw it all in and turn the heat down just below medium.
Let it simmer. Drink your wine, pretend to stir it, ignore your boyfriend and enjoy the smell.Pure Kitchen glamour.
We are almost done. Are you proud? I’m sharing really well.
Ok two minutes has passed and you add in a bag of baby spinach, two chopped birds eyes chilis (obviously you don’t have to add this, or you may add more- personally if I’m cooking for my freezer I add an extra habanero chili), toss in the leaves of the parsley chopped, a lemon juiced and a half a cup of parmesan cheese. You want the stinkiest parmesan you can find, ask your local cheese lady- often a good Asagio or Pecorino. It adds a bite and a salt to the soup that is addictive. Turn the heat off, you’re done. Serve up a big bowl, pour another glass of wine and enjoy it with the people you love. Just don’t give them the recipe.
Love Grace xx
Mmm, I am smacking my lips and so far I have only read the recipe! Will give it a try and think of sharing it with you x Love your work so far and yes, an hour in the kitchen is much better for the soul than one spent at the gym worrying over the expectations of others, or worse our earlier selves.
ReplyDeleteI will have to try that grenache next time I am in Oz, but till then I might stick with local spaetburgunder (pinot noir) which is about as heavy as the reds get over here! By the by, not sure if you have come across Smitten Kitchen, but if not I think you should check her out. This weekend I was thinking I'd try out this recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/2011/09/red-wine-chocolate-cake/ something a little naughty to follow your lovely soup perhaps. I'll let you know how it goes :)