Chicken and Leek soup.

[Tilly2]

I have a chicken carcass, leeks, potatoes, carrots, celery and a green pepper and store cupboard ingredients.

How do I make a nice tasty soup in my slow cooker, tomorrow? Do I need to buy some more diced chicken. I don't make soups but it seems a shame to waste the chicken carcass.

Thank you in advance.

[magsmay]

Put the carcass in a large pan and add boiling water to cover -prepare veg and add all peelings/trims to water in pan with any herbs you have around -dried or fresh. boil carcass for about 1 hour , turn off heat and leave until morning. In morning bring carcass in pan back up to boil and boil for 10 minutes then strain off stock into preheated (high) slow cooker. melt some butter in a pan and saute chopped veg until soft -add to liquid in slow cooker, turn down to low and leave all day. Turn up slow cooker to high. Mix 4 oz self raising flour with 2 oz of suet, salt and pepper and 1 oz hard strong cheese. mix with water to soft dough and plop spoonfuls into hot soup -put lid on slow cooker and leave approx 30 mins (time for bath and glass of chilled white) -and enjoy -chicken soupl with cheesy dumplings -yum!

[Tilly2]

That sound simple enough magsmay. Thank you. So I don't need any extra chicken? The carcass will be enough?

[magsmay]

hi tilly -I would not add any more chicken unless you have some left from the roast -you could always add a chicken or veg stock cube to strengthen the flavour -if you don't want to make dumplings add a couple of tablespoons of rinsed long grain rice or small pasta shapes. Also you could add a tin of canned tomatoes, some dried italian herbs and plenty of chopped garlic and make it into a minestrone -I find soup making an Art rather than a science ;-)

[Tilly2]

Thanks again, magsmay. I do need to experiment a bit more with soups. It's the cold weather that's brought this on. Somehow, a ham salad doesn't go down too well in December!