Royal Velvet Chicken Soup

Recipe is from the Great British Cookbook and is posted for ZWT-8-Great Britain. This recipe calls for a whole chicken, but only uses the breast meat; therefore, you may want to just substitute skin-on chicken breast to get the rich broth and remove the skin after cooking.

• Ready In: 2 hrs 30 mins
• Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1  whole chicken (3-4 pounds)
• 1  large onion
• 2  stalks celery
• 2  leeks, white part only
• 1  large  pinch salt
• 1  bunch herbs (parsley, bayleaf, thyme)
• 1  ounce butter
• 1  ounce all-purpose flour
• 3  egg yolks
• 5  ounces heavy cream

Directions

1. Place the cleaned whole chicken into a large deep pan. Add the vegetables, cleaned and coarsely chopped, salt and the herbs. Cover with about 4-5 pints of cold water, bring slowly to the boil and skim off the scum as it rises.
2. When the soup is free of scum turn the heat down, place the lid on the pan and allow to simmer for 25 minutes per pound plus 20 minutes. When the chicken is tender, remove it from the pan taste the broth at this point and boil it further if necessary to end up with about 2 pints of liquid.
3. In a separate pan, large enough to hold the soup, melt the butter and stir in the flour. Let it simmer, stirring it for a minute or two, until it is glistening. Then gradually add 1 1/2 pints of the strained chicken broth, stirring to obtain a smooth liquid. Simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Beat the yolks in a bowl with the remaining hot (not boiling) soup and the cream, then add it, away from the heat, to the soup. DO NOT BOIL or eggs may curdle.
5. Stir or whisk over the lowest possible heat until the soup thickens to a velvety cream. Add diced chicken breast. Heat through and serve at once. (Save remaining chicken for salad, etc.).