COMFORT IN A BOWL:Beat the winter snuffles with a warming bowl of soup
Comfort for me rests in a soup bowl. The contents can vary hugely - lentils and sausages; a stew or casserole; broth or soup. Spoon in hand, it is time to curl up on the sofa rather than sit at the table. I'm all for adding bits to the bowl. Grilled bread rubbed with garlic and slicked with olive oil is good, as is cheese on toast. If the flavours in the bowl are Asian, a handful of beansprouts and coriander add crunch and attitude. It seems that half the country has succumbed to the 'flu, and a big bowl of soup is part of the healing process.
CHICKEN NOODLE SOUPServes 6
1 organic chicken
1 chicken stock cube
2 carrots, finely diced
2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
3 sticks celery, trimmed and finely chopped
small bunch parsley, finely chopped, stalks reserved
50g vermicelli
Put the chicken and stock cube in a large saucepan and add 2.5 litres of water. Season with salt and pepper and add the parsley stalks. Slowly bring to the boil over a moderate heat, skimming the surface occasionally. As it comes to the boil slide in the vegetables and lower the heat so it cooks with the smallest blip on the surface, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Strain.
As soon as the chicken is cool enough to handle remove the skin and discard it. Pick the rest of the meat and set aside. Remove the parsley stalks and discard them. Return the meat to the liquid and add the chopped parsley and vermicelli and check the seasoning. Bring back to the boil and simmer for eight minutes or until the vermicelli is cooked
MATZO BALLS
For the authentic Jewish chicken noodle soup matzo balls are often added. The following comes from Claudia Roden's The Book of Jewish Food.
2 eggs separated
75g medium matzo meal
salt
Beat the egg whites until they are stiff. Fold in the lightly beaten egg yolks, then the matzo meal and salt and continue to mix until amalgamated. Chill, covered, for 30 minutes. Roll into two centimetre balls and drop them in to plenty of boiling salted water. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Just before serving, heat them up in the same way and then drop them into the soup. If you heat them in the broth they will absorb most of it.