This chicken soup recipe – as featured in Pride and Prejudice – is rich in flavour but beautiful in its understatement.
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Ingredients
- 900g veal or beef bones (from butcher’s shops), chopped
- 1 small free-range chicken
- 400g piece British free-range unsmoked bacon, cut into chunks
- 6 black peppercorns
- Bouquet garni (or a bundle of fresh herbs such as thyme, parsley, bay leaf, marjoram)
- Pared zest ½ lemon
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 2 celery sticks, chopped
- 3 mace blades
To thicken:
- 125g blanched almonds
- 600ml double cream
- 1 thick stale bread slice, whizzed into breadcrumbs
- Lemon zest strip
- 1 mace blade, crushed to a powder
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Method
- Put the bones, whole chicken and bacon chunks into a large pan, then add the peppercorns, herbs, lemon zest, onion, celery and mace. Cover with water, then bring to a boil, skimming off any scum. reduce the heat, then simmer very gently for 2½ hours.
- Remove the chicken and set aside, then strain the stock through a fine sieve (discard flavourings) and cool (overnight if possible).
- When cool, skim off the fat, then return about 700ml stock to a clean pan and heat gently.
- Pound the almonds in a pestle and mortar with 2 tbsp cold water to make a coarse paste (or pulse in a small food processor). Put the cream in a pan and add the almonds, bread, lemon zest and powdered mace. Bring to the boil, simmer for 1-2 minutes, then add to the pan of stock. Simmer for 2 minutes, then strain again, pressing with the back of a spoon. Shred the meat from the reserved chicken, then add to the soup to warm through. Serve simply, with a little bread if you like.
Nutrition
- 643kcals Calories
- 48.5g (23.8g saturated) Fat
- 32.1g Protein
- 20g carbs (1.6g sugars) Carbs
- 0.2g Fibre
- 1.8g Salt
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