Week 45: Orange Chicken Soup

The Recipe

Soup Base
2 chicken thighs/drumsticks
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 small onion, quartered
1-2 red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 small squash, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 orange, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch rings
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups water
1 tsp honey
thyme

Soup
1 large onion, chopped
3 red potatoes cut into 1-inch pieces
2 large carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 small squash, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 bell pepper, cut into strips
1 can stewed tomatoes (400g)
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp curry
150g bacon cut into strips
2-3 cups vegetable broth

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper to taste; place in a pot and add remaining ingredients for the soup base. Bring to a boil, cover and leave to simmer for 1 hour.
Once done, discard all the vegetables but save the stock (it boiled down to less than a cup for me - you might end up with more in which case the additional stock for the soup won't be necessary). Pick the chicken from the bones, discard the skin and bones and cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.

In a large pot, add onion, potatoes, carrots and bacon, paprika and curry. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add bell pepper and squash and cook for a minute or so. Add tomatoes, chicken stock and enough vegetable stock for the soup to have the desired consistency. Cover, bring to a boil, and leave to simmer for at least 30 minutes, 1 hour if possible.

The Verdict
Wow, it wasn't until I started typing this out that I realized how elaborate the recipe had gotten! It felt easy to me, but that might have been because I'd prepared the soup base ahead of time. Anyway, it was really, really good. I loved it, and ate more than my fill :-) You can probably make it with just regular chicken stock rather than this elaborate base - I couldn't say how big a difference in taste that would make.