Morning Menu: Academe Brasserie’s Tomato & Basil Soup

4 Comments

1. 

   Chef Steve May 25, 2014

   This is how I prepare chicken and vegetable soup in my restaurant. I either boil, or bake off the chicken, de-bone it 1/2 inch dice the chicken, then I set it aside. If I boil it then I have a stock to work with. If I bake it I use the roasting juices and water plus some chicken base. Normally I’ll add a little chicken base either way to enhance the flavor, but I don’t like to add too much or it becomes too salty. Then I add garlic, thyme, sage and a little pepper, the carrots, celery, and onions to the stock then simmer until the veggies become tender.At this point I’ll add precooked rice, or pasta in and add the chicken. I adjust the seasonings, and there it is! Fresh chicken soup! Healthy and tasty. You can, by the way, add any vegetable you like, but the canned variety should be added after the cooking process is over. Enjoy!
   Chef Steve

2. 

   TheOne May 25, 2014

   Here are some great recipes:

   Chicken Soup
   Yields: 6 – 8 servings

   Stock:

   Chicken carcass
   8 cups water
   2 small onions, peeled but left whole
   2 turnips, peeled & cut in half
   2 carrots, cut in half
   1 stalk celery, cut in half, with leaves if possible
   1 bay leaf
   2 cloves garlic, peeled but left whole
   1 teaspoon salt
   5 black peppercorns

   Saved vegetable scraps such as potato peelings, spinach roots, pea pods.

   Soup:

   (Many ingredients equal depth & richness)

   2 tablespoons butter
   2 cups chopped carrot
   1 1/2 cups chopped celery
   1 large leek, white only, finely chopped
   7 – 8 cups chicken broth as above
   3/4 cups brown rice
   2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dry
   1 lb. boneless chicken breast, skinned & cubed in 1 inch pieces
   1 pound potatoes, in 1/2 inch dice
   1/2 pound turnips in 1/2 inch dice
   8 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
   1 package frozen peas
   1/4 cup chopped parsley

   Stock:

   Put carcass of a roasted chicken in large soup kettle with 8 cups water. Add remaining ingredients. Bring water to a simmer. Lower heat to lowest possible setting & cook, covered, for a minimum of six hours.

   Plan this soup two weeks before you make it, & collect wonderful ingredients for enrichment. Feel free to play.

   After stock has cooked, remove & discard all ingredients. Strain through a sieve.

   Soup:

   Heat butter in large soup kettle. Stir in carrot, celery & leek. Over very low heat, cook together for 9- 10 minutes.

   Add chicken stock. Bring to a simmer & add the brown rice & the thyme. Cook over lowest heat for 30 minutes. Add chicken breast, potatoes & turnips, & continue to cook over lowest heat for 20 minutes. Add mushroom, parsley & peas & cook for an additional 10 minutes.

   Taste for seasoning. Add more salt & pepper if necessary.

3. 

   Stephen L May 25, 2014

   Try this … Basically, you throw everything (OK, not the herbs!) in at the start.

   CHICKEN SOUP

   4 servings

   INGREDIENTS

   1 roasted chicken carcass
   100g to 125g of at least 2 vegetables (see below)
   1 onion
   1 chicken stock cube
   1 litre of water
   1 teaspoon of dried sage
   Ground pepper to taste

   METHOD

   Remove any skin from the chicken carcass and discard it. Peel the vegetables and chop any tops and/or bottoms off, if required, and then chop them into 2cm (1 inch) pieces. Peel the onion and chop it into 2cm (1 inch) pieces.

   Put the chicken, onion and vegetables, stock cube and water into a large saucepan on a medium heat. Stir thoroughly. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat until it is just boiling (simmering).

   Put the lid on and cook for 1 hour. Check the liquid level from time to time and top up if it starts to dry out.

   Fish out the bones and put them on a plate. Remove any meat which is still on the bones. Put the meat back into the soup and discard the bones.

   If you have a food processor, put the soup in it and blend it to the desired consistency. If you have a hand blender, put it in the soup and blend it to the desired consistency. If you don’t have a food processor or hand blender, use a potato masher, press the soup through a sieve with the back of a spoon, or leave it lumpy. If you used a food processor, rinse out the saucepan and put the soup back into the saucepan.

   Put the saucepan on a low heat and reheat the soup gently.

   Add the sage. Stir thoroughly.

   Season with the pepper.

   ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

   Use green vegetables (celery, courgettes, leeks) and mushrooms for a light and delicate soup. Use root vegetables (carrots, parsnips, potatoes, swedes, turnips) and tomatoes for a thick and hearty soup, The so-called “Holy Trinity” of soup base ingredients is carrot, celery and onion.

   For Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup, use green vegetables and add a small pack of noodles. Cook them in the soup, according to the instructions on the packet. If you freeze the soup, do this when you reheat it.

   For Scottish Cock-a-Leekie Soup, make with 200g to 250g of leeks and a couple of stoned prunes, cut into very thin slices.

4. 

   U.S.Army May 25, 2014

   Hearty chicken and vegetable soup

   Warm up your Friday night with this hearty soup – the winner of this week’s soup recipe food fight.
   Ingredients (serves 6)

   * 2 tablespoons olive oil
   * 1 leek, halved, washed, thinly sliced
   * 2 garlic cloves, crushed
   * 1 large carrot, peeled, diced
   * 2 sticks celery, diced
   * 2 small zucchini, diced
   * 1 swede or turnip, peeled, diced
   * 1 1/4 cups dry soup mix, rinsed (see note)
   * 8 cups chicken stock
   * 1kg skinless chicken lovely legs

   Method

   1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add leek and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until soft but not coloured. Add carrot, celery, zucchini and swede. Cook for 2 minutes. Stir in soup mix, stock, chicken and 1 cup cold water. Increase heat to high. Bring to the boil.
   2. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour or until soup mix and vegetables are tender.
   3 Remove chicken legs from soup. Allow to cool slightly. Remove meat from bones. Roughly chop chicken meat and add to soup. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle soup into warmed bowls. Serve.

   Notes

   * Packet dry soup mix is a combination of split peas and lentils. You can find it near the chickpeas in the supermarket.
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