Soup's On!

The snowbanks are chest-high outside my house, and winter is only half over. It's time for some serious comfort food. There's nothing that says "the comforts of home" like a chicken sizzling in the oven  --  except maybe a steaming bowl of chicken soup. Here's Grandma Vandenbergh's recipe for kippensoep (chicken soup):

- 1 chicken carcass for soup
- 8 cups cold water
- 2 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. mace
- 2 tsp. parsley
- 1/4 cup butter or margarine
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup rice
- 1 egg

This seemed a bit bland to me. but right above this recipe was one for kerrysoep - curry soup. So -- ta-dah!  -- I decided to combine the two recipes, substituting chicken for beef in the original curry soup recipe.


Kippenkerrysoep:  Chicken curry soup

- One quart of chicken bouillon, either canned or made from your own chicken carcass
- 1 cup chicken bits (add more than that if you like)
- 1 tsp. salt (omit this if bouillon contains salt)
- 1 small onion
- 1 tsp. curry
- 2 tbsp. butter or margarine
- 2 tbsp. flour
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 2 tsp. parsley

Chop onion and saute in butter with curry, taking care that the mixture remains light yellow in color.
Slowly pour in the chicken bouillon.

Add chicken, bring to a boil and let simmer for 10 minutes. This is what mine looked like on the stove at this point:

Combine flour with a small amount of cold water; add to the soup pot while stirring, to thicken the soup.

Add the cooked rice and simmer for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve in your favorite soup bowl, garnished with parsley and croutons. And there you have it, the restorative power of chicken soup with the tang of curry! Inhale deeply and enjoy: