Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup

A must do soup in the Brode household from stock created from the carcass of a roast chicken.

First make chicken stock: put carcass of chicken (stripped of most of the cooked meat) into a large saucepan and cover, just, with water (include vegetable cooking water and any left over gravy of making from a roast chicken). Bring to boil then simmer for about an hour. Longer is even better. Strain off the stock. Leave the carcass to cool and pick off any remaining meat to add to the soup.

For basic soup simply add the pieces of chicken to the stock, add a tin of sweetcorn (preferably one that it is in just water, no salt or sugar added) and briefly blend. Do not blend until smooth. The aim is to have recognisable bits of chicken and sweetcorn.

Favourite is to also add chopped spring onions (aka scallions), simmer for at least 5 minutes, the briefly blend.

If you like a thicker soup, blend cornflour with the contents of tin of sweetcorn before adding (ie with the water in the tin) before adding to stock and chicken. Stir until soup has thickened. Blend further if need be.

Ideal seasoning for this soup is a dash of soy sauce.

Soups

Soups
- Asparagus
- Carrot and Coriander
- Chicken and Sweetcorn- Curried Parsnip
- Lamb and Pearl Barley
- Leek and Potato
- Lentil
- Mushroom
- Nettle
- Portuguese Chicken Soup
- Refrigerator
- Thai: Sugarsnap and Beansprout Laksa
- Tomato

Recipe: Soups

Soups are SOOO simple to make. We always have pots of soup in the freezer ready for lunches at work/weekend or starters for when we have people round for supper. I still have the hand-blender that I bought to create weaning food for first child - ie it is approximately 17 years old and still going strong. Here are some recipes. I am sure I will add more later!

Carrot and Coriander
Based on one from BBC Recipes online . If you have cooked carrots and/or swede leftover from Sunday lunch, or other meal, add just before the ground coriander. If making day after a Sunday lunch then the vegetable cooking water can make up some of the stock.

Roughly chop a large onion and 1lb of peeled carrots
Fry in 1 tbsp rapeseed/sunflower oil for 5 minutes on medium heat
Add 1 tsp ground coriander and cook for a further minute
Add 2 pints vegetable stock and cook for about 15 minutes until carrots are tender
Add bunch fresh coriander, roughly torn or chopped

Blend using handblender
Taste and season with s&p if necessary

Curried Parsnip soup
Will soon be making a large batch of this for the freezer as I need to clear the part of the vegetable patch that the parsnips are in.
1 large onion chopped
1lb parsnips washed, peeled and chopped
1tsp curry powder
2pts vegetable stock

Fry onion and parsnips in oil for a few minutes. Add curry powder and cook for further minute. Add stock and cook until parsnips are tender. Blend with hand-blender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spot the similarity as we move onto...
Mushroom soup
1 large onion chopped
10oz - 1lb mushrooms roughly chopped
1pt vegetable stock
Half pint (max) milk
Fry onion until softened. Add mushrooms and fry gently for a further 2 minutes (until juices beginning to flow from mushrooms). Add vegetable stock and simmer for 10 minutes. Blend and add milk to required consistency. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Left over soup my take on 'refrigerator soup', as my mother in law would call it
Take all the left over vegetables from Sunday Lunch (cook extra if you are planning on doing this soup)
Left over Gravy
Bring to simmer with enough
Water the vegetables were initially cooked in

Blend with hand-blender adding more of the aforementioned water to get desired consistency.
Taste and season with one of the following:

• Salt and Pepper
• Mushroom Ketchup
• Soy Sauce