Ingredients
1 chicken, quartered
1 salt & pepper, to taste
2 tbsp butter
3 leeks, w/ 1 green, sliced
2 granny smith apples, peeled
1 cup apple juice
1/2 cup vinegar
3 cup chicken stock
3 tbsp calvados
1/2 cup heavy cream
Directions
Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Melt the butter over medium
heat in a saute pan just large enough to hold the chicken. Add the
chicken, skin side down, and cook for about eight minutes over medium
heat. If the butter in the pan starts to brown, lower the heat
slightly. Turn the chicken and light saute in the same way for five
minutes more.
Remove the chicken from the pan and place it in a bowl. If the butter
in the saute pan has burned, pour it out and replace it with two
tablespoons fresh butter. Add the leeks and cook them for 10 minutes
over medium heat. Stir the leeks every couple of minutes. They should
be soft but not brown.
Put the chicken back in the pan with the leeks. Add the apples, apple
juice, vinegar and broth. Bring the liquids to a slow simmer and
with a ladle skim off any fat or froth that floats to the top. Cover
the pot and simmer the chicken very gently for 10 to 15 minutes,
until it is completely cooked.
Remove the chicken and let it cool. Remove and discard the skin and
pull the meat away from the bones. Cut the meat into half inch chunks.
Use a ladle to skim off any fat that has formed on the surface of the
liquid in a saute pan. Add the Calvados and the heavy cream. Bring
to a simmer and season to taste with salt and pepper. Heat the chunks
of chicken in the soup for two minutes and serve immediately in hot
bowls.
Suggestions and variations: Try adding a cup of sliced mushrooms
along with the apples. The mushroom flavor goes well with the other
ingredients, and the mushrooms make the soup more substantial. This
soup is also delicious with curry, which can be added by gently
cooking a tablespoon of curry powder in a tablespoon of butter and
stirring it into the soup shortly before serving.
Servings: 6 servings
Chicken Soup W/ Apples & Leeks Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Chicken; Chicken Soup; Fruit; Poultry; Soup
The History of Recipes
It is actually possible to trace the history of written cooking instructions far back into distant history, at least as far into history as pharonic Egypt, and potentially, even further back. Interesting though that is, in the main part, these early records were just very simple pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for meal preparation.
The truth of the matter is, the oldest recipe discovered so far, according to academics are a few stone tablets in ancient Sumerian which recount the baking of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making anyone who tried it feel exhilarated and blissful. As we move into Roman times around 25BC a roman called Apicius created some scripts detailing recipes cooked by the Romans. In his works, Apicius describes how the meals of wealthy Romans were separated into appetizers, entrees and dessert, a very modern way of dining. He also tells us how the Roman cooks were skilled in the use of a good variety of herbs, including a few that will be familiar to modern chefs such as bay, mint and dill. During the following few centuries, the powerful and rich competed to offer the most extravagent banquests, and because of this the best chefs and their recipe collections were much in demand. However, it was during the 1800s that fine cookery and cookery books reached a high level of popularity. The Famous Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Farmer in the US, devoted much of their lives to collecting, verifying, and publishing popular recipes of the day. By the advent of the 1900s, cookbooks are in great demand, as a result of higher levels of literacy, people having increased leisure time and having more disposable income. |
We hope you enjoy this Chicken Soup W_ Apples & Leeks recipe.
