"When Will It Ever Stop Raining?" Soup

Not “when will it every stop raining soup” which I feel I need to point out, because when I read the title to my partner Shariq, his response was that he didn’t realise that it was raining soup, were we really eating it that much? Which made me sigh and eye roll and then rewrite this paragraph.

I hope everyone who is on holiday this week is enjoying the break, despite the weather. I am trying hard to see all this endless rain as an opportunity. Walking in it is apparently good for us, and I do like my early morning walks, regardless of the weather. What I don’t like is being out and about in unpredictable on/off rain which can result in a sudden soaking and damp clothes for the rest of the day. It is getting quite tedious.

It also means I am constantly wanting comforting and warming meals and this is the third time I have made some kind of chicken soup/stew/curry thing this week. Not just because of the weather, but also because I made 2 litres of chicken stock at the weekend and had no freezer space for it. Bad planning, yes, but I have made the most of it. We have eaten old fashioned chicken stew with dumplings, a chicken pilaf and a creamy, lemony chicken soup and now I have turned to tomatoes because I had planned a wintery panzanella with some of the stale bread I had decided to refresh in the pressure cooker. But instead of that, I have ended up making a kind of soupy hunter’s chicken over garlicky croutons. Robust and herby with a hint of sweetness coming through because one of the heels of bread I had was a fig and fennel one. (For a reminder of how to refresh stale bread in the pressure cooker, look here). You don’t have to make these croutons with fig and fennel bread of course – but if you wanted to add a little fennel seed to the croutons as you fry them, it will add a welcome contrast to the heat and acidity of the soup.

The other thing I should say about this was that I had intended to use cavolo nero, but the bunch I thought I had in the fridge was not to be found, and as tomorrow is farmers market day and until then I am low on greens, I had to use a couple of courgettes left over from recipe testing instead. If you want to use cavolo nero or perhaps chard, add it along with all the chicken stock.

Chicken – I used 4 intact chicken thighs, but drumsticks would work in the same way and you could also use thigh fillets, which are more expensive but easier to deal with. They also take less cooking; you don’t have to brown them at the start. They don’t need 5 minutes at high pressure either, but the tomatoes do, so cook at high pressure for the same length of time.

For the soup:

1 tbsp olive oil

4 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on

2 red onions, cut into wedges

2 sticks celery, sliced

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

150ml red wine

1 large sprig thyme

Spikes from a sprig of rosemary, finely chopped

1/2 tsp chilli flakes or powder

1 x 400g tin tomatoes

600ml chicken stock

1 leek, sliced (optional)

2 courgettes, sliced

25g green or black olives, sliced

A small bunch of parsley, finely chopped

A few basil leaves (optional)

For the croutons:

2 tbsp olive oil

300g stale bread, diced

2 garlic cloves, finely grated/chopped

Zest of ½ lemon

½ tsp fennel seeds (optional)

Heat your pressure cooker and add the olive oil. Cook the chicken thighs, skinside down, until the skin is crisp and brown and plenty of fat has rendered out. Drain off some of the fat to a frying pan. Push the chicken to one side and add the onion and celery. Saute for a couple of minutes, then stir in the garlic.

Pour in the wine and make sure the base of the cooker is completely deglazed. Add the thyme, rosemary and chilli flakes, followed by the tomatoes and chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper. Close the lid and bring up to high pressure. Adjust the heat so it is just high enough to maintain the pressure and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to drop pressure naturally.

Remove the chicken from the cooker. Debone, and roughly cut up the chicken meat. Finely slice the chicken skin. Season with a little more salt and return to your cooker. Add the leek if using and the courgettes. Close the lid and bring up to high pressure again. Immediately remove from the heat, leave to stand for 2 minutes then release any remaining pressure.

While the soup is on its second cook, make the croutons. Add the olive oil to the pan that already contains the rendered chicken fat. Add the bread and saute for several minutes until crisp and well browned. Stir in the garlic, lemon zest and fennel seeds if using and cook for another minute. Transfer to a serving bowl.

Stir half the parsley and basil into the soup. Divide the croutons between 4 bowls and ladle over the soup. Garnish with more parsley and basil.

Finally, a reminder that I am demoing at Omved Gardens next Saturday (13th April) and there are still a very few places left. You can read more about it and book tickets here.