Do you ever have one of those days when you feel like people are plotting against you? And then--you found out you were right! Being paranoid is one thing, but having that gut feeling is a completely different feeling (it has a hint of validation to it :) I feel like I'm in a pickle and I am not sure what my next steps should be... Obviously, they should be very carefully plotted. I've got caution lights blinking all around me, I'm hesitant.
Anyway, it was definitely a good thing to have some comfort soup at home, with this situation on the radar. This soup comes from "Sunday Soup" by Betty Rosbottom. It has fennel in it, which I had to go shop at the fresh produce market for, as I didn't find it in town. If you haven't eaten fennel, it has a black licorice smell to it. I don't think it tasted much like black licorice when it was all cooked up, so don't let it scare you. I hate black licorice, I wouldn't steer you in the wrong direction.
This soup also calls for light cream. I don't know about you but I have no idea what light cream is.... I know about heavy cream, but not about light. I googled it and some people said light cream is half-n-half, another site did not agree with that and said light cream had a little more fat content than half-n-half. Oy, what's a girl to do? The site went on to say it's a better idea to go "up" in fat content in a recipe than to go down. So I put heavy cream in the soup.
Recipe for 4 servings
2 medium fennel bulbs
4 cups chicken stock, plus 1/2 to 1 cup extra
1 1/2 cups sliced baby carrots
2 cups diced cooked chicken
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups light cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons fennel seeds, crushed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup snow peas
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley optional (guess what, I opted out)
1. Cut off stalks from fennel and reserve tops for garnish if desired (guess what, I opted out again). Halve bulbs lengthwise, cut out and discard tough cores. Chop enough fennel to yield 1 1/2 cups.
2. Bring 4 cups chicken stock to simmer in large pot set over med-high heat. Add fennel and carrots and cook until veggies are tender (around 12 mins).
3. Drain fennel and carrots, reserving 1 1/2 cups of stock. Put fennel, carrots and chicken in large bowl.
4. Melt butter in pot over med-high heat. Add flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or less. Gradually whisk in cream and reserved 1.5 cups stock. Whisk until mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon (around 4 mins). Stir in lemon juice, fennel seeds, and salt. Stir in chicken, carrots and fennel. If the soup is too thick, thin it with additional stock as needed <I did not have to do this>
5.When ready to serve soup, trim and discard ends of snow peas. Cur the snow peas on the diagonal into thirds. Add peas to soup and cook until tender (2 mins). Taste soup and season with salt as needed.
6. Garnish with stupid fennel or stupid parsley.
Okay, to crush the fennel seeds.. It was a nice therapy session. I put them in a baggie and beat 'em with the meat tenderizer. I had to stop when I thought the neighbors were becoming suspicious...
On chopping fennel, LOL, one would think I would have googled it before I went to town. I didn't, but I was feeling reckless. Turns out, I just youtubed it, and I was good to go.
I'll admit this soup is different, but it's got a nice creamy base. I love cream soups. I'll eat cream of mushroom if it's in a good cream base--and I have a very high dislike of fungus.
So pass the pepper (yup, it needs pepper) and enjoy :)
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