In the cold winter months, with snow on the ground, and a chill in the air, there’s nothing quite like a good soup. This one would warm even the most weary of hikers returning from a day climbing Ben Nevis. The traditional version of cock-a-leekie has prunes in the soup, but this version has them pickled, and served on the side as an alternative.
Ingredients
Serves 6 (in shot glasses)
- 2 chicken thighs (bone left in, but skin removed)
- 300ml chicken stock
- 1 carrot (peeled)
- 1 leek
- 2 tbsp pearl barley
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 dried prunes
- 50ml red wine vinegar
- 25ml tap water
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 3 black peppercorns
- 3 juniper berries
- 1 slice thick white bread
- 2 tsp freshly chopped parsley
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper (preferably white) to season
Method
- Brown the chicken thighs in a little olive oil over a high heat.
- Halve the carrot and leek, and cut one half of each into thick rounds.
- Add the stock to the browned chicken thighs, followed by the sliced leek and carrot, and one bay leaf, and bring to the boil.
- Season with salt and pepper (shop-bought stock can be quite salty, so it might not need extra if using that), reduce heat, cover, and simmer for an hour.
- Remove from heat, and leave the chicken and veg to cool in the stock.
- For the pickled prunes combine the red wine vinegar and water in a small saucepan, add the salt, sugar, peppercorns, juniper berries, and one bay leaf. Bring to the boil, turn off the heat, add the prunes, and leave them to cool in the pickling liquid. When cool, remove prunes from the liquid, leave to drain on kitchen paper, and then halve lengthways.
- For the crouton, cut six 4cm-long portions from the bread (like soldiers for a boiled egg), heat some olive oil in a pan, add the bread, and cook until golden. Remove from the heat, and while still warm roll in the parsley to coat – doing this while warm helps the parsley to stick.
- Remove the chicken and vegetables from the poaching liquid, and reheat the stock.
- Pull the cooked chicken from the bone, and chop into a small dice, along with the uncooked carrot and leek halves.
- Add the pearl barley to the stock, and simmer gently for 15 mins, adding the diced chicken and veg for the last minute only so that the veg retains some crunch.
- Check the seasoning, and add more pepper until it’s quite peppery.
- To assemble, pour the soup into six shot glasses (ensuring that the chicken and veg is evenly distributed), place a herbed crouton across the rim, and half a pickled prune on top of each crouton.