Food and Drink: Clare Latimer's recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup
Published: 8 April 2010
WELL, the one thing that I am not going to include this week is chocolate, because if you had an Easter like I had, you could do with a break!
Dark chocolate is actually healthy for you, and can really help prevent heart attacks.
My mum has had a piece of dark chocolate after each meal for years now and she is a very strong 92 years old, so if that is anything to go by I would suggest copying her.
On a totally different subject, my little Lavender chicken died recently and Poacher, the brown chicken, has been crying round the garden heart broken.
I bought her two new Lavender companions from the fabulous Freightliner Farm in Islington, and only now, after three weeks, has she started to bond.
The two new ones have given me a wonderful Easter present of fresh eggs every day.
Their diet is just corn and fresh grass so the Omega levels are superb and all is now happy in my garden again.
I would recommend anyone to keep chickens as the pleasures and rewards are wonderful.
On this note (but don’t tell them!) our chicken noodle soup has become almost the best seller in our shop.
I would never have thought it would be so popular. From kids to grannies, they all love it, so I thought I should give you the recipe.
CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
You can add lemongrass, Pak Choy, spinach and any other ingredient that may be in your fridge, but here is the basic recipe
Ingredients • Serves 4
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped finely
6 spring onions, trimmed and sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped finely
1 medium knob ginger, peeled and grated
1 red chilli, seeds removed, sliced into very thin strips
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 free-range chicken leg
1 free-range chicken breast
1 pinch ground allspice
1 litre chicken stock
150g egg noodles
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander or parsley.
Method
Put the oil, onion, garlic and spring onions into a large saucepan and sauté for about three minutes to soften but not brown. Add the ginger and chilli and fry for a further one minute.
Add the two joints of chicken and the allspice and stir well.
Continue to fry for two minutes, or until the spices are smelling and the chicken is slightly cooked on the skin.
Add the chicken stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and then simmer for about half an hour or until the chicken joints are well cooked. Remove them from the juices and leave to cool.
Remove all the chicken meat from the bones and then chop up the flesh into small strips. Discard the bones.
Put the soup back on the heat and add the chicken meat and noodles and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer for about three minutes or until the noodles are tender.
Just before serving, add the chopped coriander or parsley and then serve hot.
BRAZILIAN CHEESE ROLLS
Patricia, a Brazilian cook, introduced me to these rolls and I have never looked back. They are delicious and would go very well with the noodle soup. This recipe will make between 12 and 15 rolls.
Ingredients
75ml vegetable oil
150ml water
150ml milk
600g tapioca flour
2 large eggs
150g mild cheddar cheese, grated
150g fresh Parmesan, grated.
Method
Preheat the oven 190C/ 375F/gas 5. Put the oil, water and milk into a saucepan and bring to the boil, and then remove from the heat.
Quickly pour all the tapioca flour and beat well. Leave the mixture to cool for about 15 minutes.
Add the cheeses and eggs and stir well. The mixture will not be smooth because of the cheeses but this is correct.
Put extra tapioca flour on your hands, to prevent the mixture sticking, and then take a piece of the mixture and shape into a golf ball size and then place on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper.
Bake in the oven until they have risen and turned golden brown. Serve them warm with butter.
•A-Z of Clare’s recipes: www.thecnj.com/review/food-drink/food.html