Recipe: "Cock-a-Leekie Soup"
Jan. 19th, 2021 11:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThe other day we made Pea Soup, which called for 1 leek. Those are rarely sold individually, so we had 2 leeks left to use up. I remembered the phrase "cock-a-leekie" and looked for recipes. Since I couldn't find exactly what I wanted, I made this, and it's really good. :D
"Cock-a-Leekie Soup"
Ingredients:
2 cups vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
1 pound skinless boneless chicken thighs
2 leeks (about 1 cup chopped)
8 baby potatoes (about 2 cups chopped)
3 celery stalks (about 2 cups chopped)
white pepper
1/4 cup parsley flakes
1 tablespoon dried sweet marjoram
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Directions:
Pour 2 cups vegetable broth into a crockpot and turn it on High. Add 1 bay leaf and 1 pound skinless boneless chicken thighs. Cover the crock.
Rinse 2 leeks. Cut off the basal end. Cut the white and light green parts into big coins about 1/4" thick. Put them in the crock.
Rinse 8 baby potatoes. Chop them into bite-sized pieces. Add them to the crock.
Separate and rinse 3 celery stalks. Trim a sliver off the top and bottom. Cut the stalks in thirds, because you may need to split the the wider bottom vertically if the stalks are big, but the top usually doesn't need that. Cut the celery stalks into bite-sized pieces. Put them in the crock.
Grind some white pepper over the vegetables in the crock. Sprinkle in 1/4 cup parsley flakes, 1 tablespoon dried sweet marjoram, and 1 teaspoon dried thyme. Cover the crock and ignore it for at least an hour.
Once the crock is simmering, the vegetables are starting to cook, and the herbs are wet then you can take the lid off and give it a good stir.
Cook for another 3 hours or so until all the vegetables are soft and the chicken is falling apart. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, then serve. The result is a mild, aromatic soup with leafy green notes.
Notes:
Cock-a-Leekie Soup is a traditional Scottish dish. It has about as many variations as chicken soup in general. I didn't find one that really matched what I had and wanted to do with it, so I used the others for inspiration and then made my own. The original includes prunes, which I omitted. This really is a fall-apart soup, rather than big chunks in broth, so expect to need spoons.
Vegetable broth or chicken broth will work as a base. Because broth is typically quite salty, you don't need to add extra salt to the recipe. If you don't have either, use water with bullion or a Maggi cube.
Skinless, boneless chicken thighs make a very nice soup meat. You can also use breast meat. Using bone-in chicken pieces is traditional, but it's a nuisance to pick them out -- and in a recipe like this where the meat falls apart, there's a risk of biting into or swallowing a hidden bone.
Leeks look like giant green onions. They have a milder flavor than onions. If you can't find leeks, substitute green onions preferably, or sweet onion and chives if that's all you can find. I used 2 leeks because that's what I had. You can add more leeks if you want; I've seen recipes using 1-7 of them.
Celery is a great soup vegetable because it holds its shape and goes with many other foods. It also has a lot of health benefits.
White pepper is basically black pepper with the hull rubbed off, so it's lighter and milder. I wanted green peppercorns for this, but couldn't find the grinder with those. Either will work, or both together if you like. If you don't have white or green, then plain black pepper is fine.
Parsley is a leafy green herb with a mild flavor.
Sweet marjoram is a leafy green herb with a sweet, slightly spicy taste.
Thyme is a small bushy herb with tiny dark green leaves. This is the key herb for Cock-a-Leekie Soup, appearing more often than others across different recipes.
Cock-a-Leekie Soup is usually thickened with either barley or potatoes. Choose barley for higher fiber or potatoes for lower calories and carbohydrates.
1/2 cup (100 grams) of uncooked, hulled barley
Calories: 354, Carbohydrates: 73.5 grams, Fiber: 17.3 grams
1/2 cup of diced White Potatoes (Flesh and Skin).
Calories: 52, Carbohydrates 11.78 grams, Fiber 1.8 grams
The other vegetables are typically carrots and/or celery. Choose carrots for higher fiber or celery for lower calories and carbohydrates.
1 cup carrots
Calories: 86.1, Carbohydrates 20.3g, Fiber 7.1g
1 cup celery
Calories: 27, Carbohydrates 6g, Fiber 2.4g
"Cock-a-Leekie Soup"
Ingredients:
2 cups vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
1 pound skinless boneless chicken thighs
2 leeks (about 1 cup chopped)
8 baby potatoes (about 2 cups chopped)
3 celery stalks (about 2 cups chopped)
white pepper
1/4 cup parsley flakes
1 tablespoon dried sweet marjoram
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Directions:
Pour 2 cups vegetable broth into a crockpot and turn it on High. Add 1 bay leaf and 1 pound skinless boneless chicken thighs. Cover the crock.
Rinse 2 leeks. Cut off the basal end. Cut the white and light green parts into big coins about 1/4" thick. Put them in the crock.
Rinse 8 baby potatoes. Chop them into bite-sized pieces. Add them to the crock.
Separate and rinse 3 celery stalks. Trim a sliver off the top and bottom. Cut the stalks in thirds, because you may need to split the the wider bottom vertically if the stalks are big, but the top usually doesn't need that. Cut the celery stalks into bite-sized pieces. Put them in the crock.
Grind some white pepper over the vegetables in the crock. Sprinkle in 1/4 cup parsley flakes, 1 tablespoon dried sweet marjoram, and 1 teaspoon dried thyme. Cover the crock and ignore it for at least an hour.
Once the crock is simmering, the vegetables are starting to cook, and the herbs are wet then you can take the lid off and give it a good stir.
Cook for another 3 hours or so until all the vegetables are soft and the chicken is falling apart. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, then serve. The result is a mild, aromatic soup with leafy green notes.
Notes:
Cock-a-Leekie Soup is a traditional Scottish dish. It has about as many variations as chicken soup in general. I didn't find one that really matched what I had and wanted to do with it, so I used the others for inspiration and then made my own. The original includes prunes, which I omitted. This really is a fall-apart soup, rather than big chunks in broth, so expect to need spoons.
Vegetable broth or chicken broth will work as a base. Because broth is typically quite salty, you don't need to add extra salt to the recipe. If you don't have either, use water with bullion or a Maggi cube.
Skinless, boneless chicken thighs make a very nice soup meat. You can also use breast meat. Using bone-in chicken pieces is traditional, but it's a nuisance to pick them out -- and in a recipe like this where the meat falls apart, there's a risk of biting into or swallowing a hidden bone.
Leeks look like giant green onions. They have a milder flavor than onions. If you can't find leeks, substitute green onions preferably, or sweet onion and chives if that's all you can find. I used 2 leeks because that's what I had. You can add more leeks if you want; I've seen recipes using 1-7 of them.
Celery is a great soup vegetable because it holds its shape and goes with many other foods. It also has a lot of health benefits.
White pepper is basically black pepper with the hull rubbed off, so it's lighter and milder. I wanted green peppercorns for this, but couldn't find the grinder with those. Either will work, or both together if you like. If you don't have white or green, then plain black pepper is fine.
Parsley is a leafy green herb with a mild flavor.
Sweet marjoram is a leafy green herb with a sweet, slightly spicy taste.
Thyme is a small bushy herb with tiny dark green leaves. This is the key herb for Cock-a-Leekie Soup, appearing more often than others across different recipes.
Cock-a-Leekie Soup is usually thickened with either barley or potatoes. Choose barley for higher fiber or potatoes for lower calories and carbohydrates.
1/2 cup (100 grams) of uncooked, hulled barley
Calories: 354, Carbohydrates: 73.5 grams, Fiber: 17.3 grams
1/2 cup of diced White Potatoes (Flesh and Skin).
Calories: 52, Carbohydrates 11.78 grams, Fiber 1.8 grams
The other vegetables are typically carrots and/or celery. Choose carrots for higher fiber or celery for lower calories and carbohydrates.
1 cup carrots
Calories: 86.1, Carbohydrates 20.3g, Fiber 7.1g
1 cup celery
Calories: 27, Carbohydrates 6g, Fiber 2.4g
(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-20 09:54 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2021-01-20 03:03 pm (UTC)We've got scads of onions and other things that way, stashed and ready to use.