Thursday 17 April 2014

Cream of Chicken Soup

Cream of Chicken Soup
Cream of Chicken Soup

Chicken

Chicken is the popular meat in the world. It is freely available. It is cheaper than red meats.  You can get in many forms such as legs, drumsticks, wings, breasts etc. It is available in fresh and frozen form. Various breeds are also available. Organic chicken is the best but most expensive too. Free range birds and wild birds are tastier and a little cheaper than organic chicken. It helps people to consume less red meat which causes many health problems.

As the breeding time is short (around 8 to 10 weeks) compared to animals the supply is always abundant. The tender white meat has a delicate flavor that blends well with many ingredients. It is easy  and takes less time to cook than other meats.

Chicken is nutritious too. It is high in protein. The amino-acid called tryptophan, present in the chicken helps relieve depression and increase serotonin level in the brain. You will find the nutritional facts of chicken in this page.

Store chicken in deep freezer or in the freezer compartment of your refrigerator. Always keep the chicken in water tight plastic bags or wrappers. In the deep freezer store raw meats separate from cooked food. It is good to freeze the chicken in shortest possible time. That is why commercial slaughter houses use plate freezers to freeze chicken instantly. This locks in the taste and prevents bacterial growth. The freezer compartment in the fridge will freeze faster than the deep freezer. Therefore it will be a good idea to freeze the raw chicken in the freezer compartment of the fridge first and then transfer to the deep freezer.

Thaw chicken in the refrigerator. This will take up to 24 hours depending on the weight of the chicken and the length of time it was in the freezer. You can thaw it in cold water, provided the chicken is in a water tight plastic bag. Change water several times. This may take up to 2 hours to thaw in this manner.  You can thaw it in a microwave too. This may take about 30 minutes. It should be done in several steps each taking about 5 or 10 minutes and pausing for a few minutes on each step. If you thaw continuously the chicken will be over heated and cooked. You should avoid thawing chicken on counter top.



                               Recipe summary
                                          For 
                          Cream of Chicken Soup
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes

Serves: 4

    1.Slice 500 grams  chicken breast into ½ inch cubes and put in a large pot. 
Ingredients

    2.Add 3 cups water, 2 cups chicken stock, 1 chopped garlic clove, 1 carrot slice thinly into 1" pieces,, 1 stalk celery cut into 1 " pieces, and 1 chopped onion   ½  tsp salt .  Bring to boil Stir in 25 grams  all-purpose flour. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
   
    3.Take the pot from the heat and
   let it cool for 10 minutes.

   4. Take out a few chicken pieces and set aside.

Cream of chicken soup final
Cream of chicken soup final
   5. Add  ½  cup cream.

   6. Taste for salt and adjust. If the salt is adequate you can skip the salt mentioned in the recipe. Your broth may contain adequate salt.

   6. Puree in a food processor or blender to desired smoothness.

   7.  Heat the soup to serving temperature.  Sprinkle ¼ tsp pepper powder and remove from heat.
   
   8. Ladle into individual bowls and add a few pieces of chicken (reserved earlier) for each bowl.


    9. Garnish and serve hot with rice or bread.

                      Cream of Chicken Soup is ready.                                                   
                      
                      Recipe  follows in detail with pictures.

Cream of Chicken Soup

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients

500 gram chicken breast boneless
Chopped Chicken
Chopped Chicken

25 grams all-purpose floor
All-purpose flour
All purpose flour

2 cups chicken stock
Chicken stock
Chicken stock

1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 carrot peeled and sliced thinly lengthwise and cut into 1-inch pieces.
1 celery stalk finely sliced lengthwise and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 onion, roughly chopped
Ingredients for Cream of Chicken Soup
Ingredients for Cream of Chicken Soup

½ cup cream
½ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of finely chopped scallion to garnish
3 cups water
The soup after boiling
The soup after boiling


Boiled soup before pureeing
Boiled soup before pureeing

Method

1.    
      1. Slice chicken breast into ½ inch cubes and put in a large pot. Add water, chicken stock, garlic, carrot, celery, and onion. Stir in the all-purpose flour. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
   2. Take the pot from the heat and let it cool for 10 minutes.
   3. Take out a few chicken pieces and set aside.
   4. Add  cream.
   5. Taste for salt and adjust. If the salt is adequate you can skip the salt mentioned in the recipe. Your broth may contain adequate salt.
   6. Puree in a food processor or blender to desired smoothness.
   7.  Heat the soup to serving temperature.  Sprinkle pepper powder and remove from heat.
    8. Ladle into individual bowls and add a few pieces of chicken (reserved earlier) for each bowl.
    9. Garnish and serve hot with rice or bread.
Cream of chicken soup in serving bowl
Cream of Chicken Soup in a bowl


Sometimes I add a can of cream of chicken to extend the soup and to enhance the flavour.

Nutrition data for this recipe
Nutrition content is computed by adding nutrition values of individual ingredients according to the USDA nutrition database. Water shown here is what is found in the ingredients and not the water added while cooking. This is only an approximation. For further information please read my ost “Nutrition information for my recipes,”



 Click the button below to view the nutrition data. Click again to close it.

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