I made this soup for grandpa's dinner last night and it was really good. I'm not really fond of chicken soup, but the addition of white wine in this recipe intrigued me. The ingredients are a perfect combination of vegetables, chicken, flavorings, liquids and cream. The morsels of dumplings created by the combination of flour and broth was a delicious surprise. The addition of cold ready-made broth is the key to creating these meltingly soft morsels. If you want a smooth soup base, then heat the broth and add it hot to the flour mixture using a whip.
Chicken Soup
adapted from the magazine Cuisine At Home
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onions
3 cloves garlic, sliced thin
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
1/4 teaspoon herbes de Provence
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup dry white wine
5-6 cups chicken broth
3 pieces chicken thighs (to make about 1 1/2 cooked shredded chicken)
1/2 cup frozen peas
8 pieces button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup baby carrots
2 tablespoons heavy cream
chopped parsely
Cover the chicken with water and boil for 15 minutes. Cool. Shred, don't worry if it's a little raw at the core, it will cook in the soup. Reserve the broth. I used 1 liter of ready-made chicken broth and added some of the broth from cooking my chicken to the soup.
In a Dutch oven sweat the onion, garlic, celery and herbs in olive oil, butter and about 1 teaspoon salt over medium heat for 5-8 minutes. Stir in flour and cook 1 minute.
Add the wine and stir to combine. Add some of the warm broth reserved from cooking the chicken and stir to combine. Add all of the ready-made broth and simmer for 15 minutes or until thickened. Season to taste. The bits of dough formed from adding the broth to the flour makes delicious mini dumplings.
Add chicken, carrots, peas and mushrooms. Finish with cream and parsley. Serves 4-6.
