Ingredients:
3-4 lbs. Chicken parts
Salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 Tbs Olive Oil, separated
1 Tbs unsalted butter
2 Cups onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs Sweet Curry powder
¼ tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
5 Cups low sodium chicken broth
6 sprigs Italian parsley
½ Cup brown rice
1 ½ Cups skim milk
2 Tbs flour
10 oz. frozen peas
¼ Cup dry, white wine
2 Cups low sodium chicken broth |
|
Directions:
Prepare Chicken:
Heat oven to 400°. Place chicken parts on a jelly roll pan. Drizzle with 1 Tbs. olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast chicken for 1 hour (skin should be golden brown). Remove chicken from oven and cool. Remove skin and bones and chop chicken into bite sized pieces. Reserve for later. (Note, you could use a rotisserie chicken for this step, and, of course, the chicken can be roasting while you are preparing the rest of the soup.) There will be lots of good brown bits on the jelly roll pan. Save for later; we'll deglaze while preparing the soup.
Prepare Soup:
1. Melt the remaining olive oil and butter in a pot. Add onions, carrots, garlic, curry, cayenne and salt and pepper. Stir well. Cook over low heat, covered, until vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes, occasionally stirring.
2. Add the chicken stock, parsley, rice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cover. Cook at a simmer until rice is done, about 30 minutes.
3. Lightly process the soup until thickened. I used a submersible blender. Another option would be to strain the soup, transfer the solids to a food processor bowl fitted with a steel blade or use a food mill fitted with a medium disc. If you use a food processor, put about 1 cup of the strained broth in with the vegetables. In using the submersible blender, I only processed until the soup seemed appropriately thick (your preference). Chunks of carrots were still visible.
4. Return pureed soup and stock to the pot (if you did not use a submersible blender). Add chicken and peas. Place the jelly roll pan with the brown bits over two burners on the range top. Pour the white wine in the jelly roll pan and turn the two burners on low. Using a wooden spoon, stir and scrape to loosen the fond and soften any bits that have stuck to the jelly roll pan. Add another 1/4 cup of chicken broth, if necessary and continue stirring and scraping. Turn off the burners, grab two hot pads and carefully lift the jelly roll pan and pour the liquid into the soup. Scrape any softened bits into the soup as well.
5. Bring soup to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes until peas are nearly done. Pour skim milk into a shaker and dump the two tablespoons of flour on the top. Close the shaker and shake well. Gradually pour the milk mixture into the soup, stirring constantly. If the soup is too thick at this point, add additional chicken brother until it is a desirable consistency. Simmer for 10 minutes. Serve immediately. |
