Recipe #13: 'Cock-a-Leekie Soup' (page 14-15)

Not explained within the text, this soup is Scottish and quite simple in preparation. It is for the most part, a barren chicken soup accompanied by only leeks. This is a laughable variant, grand in scale which not only adds another meat but a brined one at that. The adjunct takes the center stage.

I brined my meat for 10 of the maximum 12 days recommended by the recipe; this is outlined in my previous post. I eagerly decanted it from its brine and inspected, it had turned an expected shade of grey without the help of additions to control that variable.

I cooked it for over two hours with the aromatic veg recommended and scoffed at the absence of celery - which is included in the next stock making exercise below - but followed it none the less.

When completed I moved the hot pot to my fridge to cool (beef still in its bath) on a trivet of wooden spoons so as not to melt or damage my fridge's shelf. My chicken stock was already on going with a procedure followed just a couple of posts earlier.

As this was Sunday after all, I took a deserved nap. When I awoke, everything had cooled and removed the meats from their liquids and did away with bones and skin (of the chicken) and portioned both.

I strained all the garbage out of the stocks and laid their used veg to rest in the bin. I set aside a good portion of beef stock and bottled up the rest for my freezer as I knew I would not require it here.

Already having used a leek each in the two stocks, I added another pair to the pan with some oil. When I felt they had concentrated their flavors and sweat off enough water, I added the whole of my chicken stock and carefully blended in the beef stock while tasting. This was followed with the volume of meat and cooked just to heat and complete the cooking of the leeks.

I decided to forgo the prunes entirely as while they may be traditional I was disgusted with the application. I have had qualms about a few ingredients used in applications like this, through out the book thus far and never balked completely.

Fergus closes the recipe with 'Serve in big bowls with much bread at hand.' Indeed, what use is soup without bread? I baked a loaf of whole wheat. Shown here ready to be baked and freshly bench-proofed, it deflated a bit as I removed it from its proofer box to be photographed. It hardly suffered.

I wonder in the end how well my ratio of stock-to-meat added up but I was pleased with the final result and have a large helping left for myself. I also had plenty of extra chicken and brisket and have been eating them on sandwiches for lunch this week and that should continue for the remainder.

I gave away three large portions as well as some un-souped brisket and bread to friends and family. It was an ordeal creating this in my small kitchen but I relish the mania of it all. An excellent catalyst into a long running interest in brining meat, another brisket shall be underfoot soon.