Cooking Challenge: Hearty Soup

#ChallengeSeason

Challenge Season - Cooking Challenge: Hearty Soup

I would envisage either hobbits and men enjoying a simple hearty broth of soup on a cold evening.

I start by preparing a simple stock. I often use hickory smoked bacon for cooking. When I cut the fat off, I put it in a bag in the freezer for making stock. To make the stock, I boil the bacon fat in a large pot of water for a few hours. This causes the smokey bacon flavour to leech into the water, while the unhealthy fat liquifies and floats on top. Remove the solid bacon fat pieces. Place the pot in he fridge overnight to cool. The previous hot liquid fat congeals on top can be easily removed to leave the flavoursome smokey bacon water.

Boil the stock while preparing the rest of the ingredients to add to it.

Thinly slice chicken breast and then further cut the slices into strips. Add this to the boiling stock, stirring to allow the chicken to separate. Alternatively, I have used small chunks of bacon bone meat.

Cut seasonable vegetables into small cubes. My common staples are turnips, parsnips, carrots, leeks, celery, zucchini, and eggplant Add these to the stock and continue to boil.

Add frozen corn, dried herbs, a tin of crushed tomatoes, cracked pepper, a teaspoon of minced garlic, a dash of sweet soy, a small dash of sesame oil and a dash of red wine.

Continue to boil this, with a lid on to minimise evaporation and stirring occasionally to prevent burning on the bottom of the pot, until the verges are soft - I usually allow for a few hours. During the last half hour, I add minestrone pasta and a couple of tablespoons of gravy powder to thicken the soup.

I like to garnish the finished soup before serving with either fresh herbs and cracked pepper or a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese to taste. Serve with buttered crusty bread chunks.

A simple, healthy hearty meal fit for a traveller at the Green Dragon Inn in Hobbiton or the Prancing Pony at Bree - thick and rich enough to satisfy even a hungry hobbit’s belly!