Food For The Soul.

                                                       Asian style chicken broth


In my last post I talked about looking at fresh ingredients and about rethinking the way in which we shop for food, cook and eat.

I think it's particularly hard to feel inspired in January, many people will have overindulged during the festive period, therefore guilt and an extra tyre around our midriffs added to the general low of returning to work leaves us not really interested in cooking. But who really wants to add to their woes by eating salad on cold, bleak evenings when comfort is so desperately needed?

This brought to mind what my mother used to call, 'chicken soup for the soul.' My relationship with chicken soup runs deep, my mum would would simmer a chicken carcass in a big pot and once the broth was made she would add whatever vegetables and herbs she had to hand, for centuries mothers like mine administered this soup wherever colds or heartbreak struck. In fact chicken soup has acquired the reputation of a folk remedy for colds and flu and is widely prepared as a comfort food.

The affinity for this broth transcends borders, almost every culture has their own take on this liquid nectar, the Jewish have even dubbed it as Jewish penicillin. A bowl of hot, fragrant broth ladled over tender vegetables, sometimes pasta, dumplings or grains, has become renowned as a cure-all.

Generally we have a psychological relationship with food which has been lovingly prepared, a microwaved ready meal offers no love or comfort. The expectation of efficacy and the succour of being cared for comes in no better form than a deeply flavoursome, nutritional homemade soup, chicken soup always conjures up the image of loving grandmothers and mothers.

The irony is that this is so simple and the ultimate inexpensive dish, yet younger women today eschew these old fashioned dishes in favour of feeding their children reformed nuggets and burgers.

I am not going to go into my free range chicken versus intensely farmed factory chicken rhetoric, we're all adults and we've all seen on TV or you tube the horrific conditions factory farmed chickens are bred in, if that's what you want to eat for the sake of a couple of quid so be it. Morals aside I will tell you categorically that a free range chicken will taste far better, there will be less fat (90 per cent of farmed chickens are so obese they can't walk by the age of 6 weeks) and free range chickens haven't been pumped with large quantities of antibiotics. It might look like you're getting less chicken for your money but you are getting quality meat from a well treated bird and lets face it, unless you're on the breadline, ie never being able to afford a McDonald's or ready meal or Starbucks, then there really is no excuse for buying an intensely farmed animal.

Chicken soup for the soul

Recipe
1 free range chicken
A selection of vegetables: carrots, onion, celery and garlic, cut into chunks
Water to cover chicken and vegetables
Sea salt and pepper

Put all the ingredients into a large pot and bring to the boil
Turn the heat down to a very low simmer, cover with a lid and cook for 4 hours

Remove the chicken and set aside until cool enough to remove all the meat
Allow broth to cool, any fat will rise to the surface which you can scoop off
Return shredded meat to broth and simmer gently for 15 minutes
Serve in warm bowls

The more vegetables you add the larger quantities of broth you will have. I usually get two nights worth out of 1 chicken. Adding dumplings stretches this out even further.

For an Asian twist add fresh ginger, chillies, spring onions, pak choi, a dash of soy sauce and garnish with fresh coriander.

For an Italian twist add herbs such as dried basil, oregano or tarragon and finish with small pasta shapes.

Really there is no end to what you can conjure up with 1 chicken, a large pot and a few of your favourite vegetables, herbs and spices.

For a thicker, stew like dish, add thinly sliced potatoes to the broth and any frozen vegetables you may have, ie peas or spinach

' Some foods are so comforting, so nourishing of body and soul, that to eat them is to be home again after a long journey.
To eat such a meal is to remember that, though the world is full of knives and storms, the body is built for kindness.
- Eli Brown

Love Donna xxxxxx