Chicken Soup W/ Apples And Leeks

Total Time: 25 mins Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1 chicken, quartered
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 leeks, w/ 1 green,sliced
• 2 granny smith apples, peeled
• 1 cup apple juice
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 3 tablespoons calvados
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Recipe

• 1 season the chicken with salt and pepper.
• 2 melt the butter over medium heat in a saute pan just large enough to hold the chicken.
• 3 add the chicken, skin side down, and cook for about eight minutes over medium heat.
• 4 if the butter in the pan starts to brown, lower the heat slightly.
• 5 turn the chicken and light saute in the same way for five minutes more.
• 6 remove the chicken from the pan and place it in a bowl.
• 7 if the butter in the saute pan has burned, pour it out and replace it with two tablespoons fresh butter.
• 8 add the leeks and cook them for 10 minutes over medium heat.
• 9 stir the leeks every couple of minutes.
• 10 they should be soft but not brown.
• 11 put the chicken back in the pan with the leeks.
• 12 add the apples, apple juice, vinegar and broth.
• 13 bring the liquids to a slow simmer and with a ladle skim off any fat or froth that floats to the top.
• 14 cover the pot and simmer the chicken very gently for 10-15 minutes , until it is completely cooked.
• 15 remove the chicken and let it cool.
• 16 remove and discard the skin and pull the meat away from the bones.
• 17 cut the meat into half inch chunks.
• 18 use a ladle to skim off any fat that has formed on the surface of the liquid in a saute pan.
• 19 add the calvados and the heavy cream.
• 20 bring to a simmer and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• 21 heat the chunks of chicken in the soup for two minutes and serve immediately in hot bowls.
• 22 suggestions and variations: try adding a cup of sliced mushrooms along with the apples.
• 23 the mushroom flavor goes well with the other ingredients, and the mushrooms make the soup more substantial.
• 24 this soup is also delicious with curry, which can be added by gently cooking a tb of curry powder in a tb of butter and stirring it into the soup shortly before serving.