Cream of Chicken Soup with Béchamel

Chicken and vegetables

1. To make cream of chicken soup you can buy the right amount of chicken meat, but it is much more convenient to use a whole chicken. A whole bird has a little fat and bones, which give the stock its body, and the mix of white and dark meat makes the soup taste more interesting.

   

2. Cut the chicken into pieces. If it was frozen, thaw it. It is better not to rush this, but to move the bird from the freezer to the fridge ahead of time. Cut off the wings and drumsticks, then remove the skin and cut them into pieces at the joints. Carefully cut off the fillet (the white meat) and remove its skin. Skin the carcass and trim off large lumps of chicken fat, then chop the carcass into large pieces.

   

3. Put the chicken in the pan. In a deep skillet, melt 1 tbsp of butter with 1 tbsp of olive oil. When the fat is well heated, add the chopped chicken in a single layer. Brown over medium heat without covering the pan.

   

4. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables and the wine. For a fragrant soup, take an onion and a carrot, a small piece each of celery root and parsnip root, and 1-2 cloves of garlic. Peel the vegetables. Cut the carrot into large sticks lengthwise. The onion can be left whole or cut into very large pieces. Peel the roots too and cut them into large chunks. Leave the garlic cloves in their skins. Measure out 100 ml of dry white wine.

   

5. Brown the chicken pieces, turning them often, until the meat just starts to color and turns a pleasant golden shade. Don’t overbrown the chicken, or the soup will taste off. Chicken browns very quickly, so keep an eye on it the whole time.

   

Stock

1. Braise the chicken with the vegetables. Add all the vegetables to the browned chicken, along with 1-2 bay leaves, 1-2 dried hot chili pods, and a little salt and pepper. Pour the white wine and 2 cups of boiling water (400 ml) into the pan.

   

   Bring the liquid to a boil, cover the pan and turn the heat down to the minimum. Braise the chicken for about 45 mins, keeping the liquid at a gentle simmer rather than a bubble. The chicken is done when the meat comes away from the bones easily.

   

2. Take out the chicken and strain the stock. Lift the chicken pieces out of the stock and put them on a plate. The chicken should cool a little so it doesn’t burn your fingers. If you want to garnish the soup with carrot, take that out of the stock too. Strain the remaining stock to remove the bits of spices and vegetables.

   

Sauce

1. Make the béchamel sauce. In a skillet over low heat, melt all the remaining butter and add 1 level tbsp of flour (10 g). Cook the flour with the butter without letting it darken, then add a cup (200 ml) of cold cream. Cook at a gentle simmer for 3-4 mins, stirring constantly. Salt to taste and add a pinch of nutmeg.

   

2. Thin the sauce with stock. Stirring constantly, pour the strained chicken stock into the sauce in a thin stream. The finished sauce should be smooth and lump-free, and thin, about the consistency of kefir. A milk sauce of roughly this kind is made for the seafood chowder recipe, in the style of American clam chowder. Let the sauce with the stock simmer over low heat for 3-4 mins.

   

Soup

1. Pull apart and chop the meat. Meanwhile, take all the meat off the slightly cooled chicken with your fingers. Pick out and discard all the bones, bits of skin, vegetables and spices: only chicken meat should go into the soup.

   

   Slice the white meat across the grain with a knife so there are no big pieces in the soup, and put half of it in a separate bowl. Chop the dark meat finer, add the other half of the white meat and put it in a pot.

2. Cook the soup. Pour the prepared cream sauce with stock over the chopped chicken and stir. Put the pot on the heat and cook the cream soup over the lowest heat for 5 mins. If you think it needs it, add more salt and pepper.

   

Serving

1. Ladle the soup into bowls. Put the reserved sliced white chicken meat into soup bowls and pour the hot soup over it. To keep the cream soup from mixing with the white meat, you can pour the soup into the bowls first and only then add the chopped fillet. If you like, top the chicken with pieces of carrot boiled in the stock and sprinkle with a pinch of hot pepper.

   

2. Serve the cream of chicken soup hot at lunch, but not scalding. I recommend sprinkling the soup in the bowl with rye croutons, which are easy to make: just cube some rye bread and fry it for a few minutes in a dry skillet or with a little vegetable oil.