Cream of Chicken Soup

I had several requests for this soup recipe mentioned in last week’s newsletter. This recipe is courtesy of my friend Belinda who said use some of this and some of that. I have done my best to write down what I actually did. It turned out great. My husband said, “You can make this again!”

Cream of Chicken Soup

1 cup finely chopped carrot – 2 medium
1 cup finely chopped celery – 2 medium
1 cup finely chopped onion
¼ Cup butter
1-2 tsp fines herbs
2 large chicken breasts or 4 small cut in bite sized pieces
6 cups chicken broth (real if possible)
2 cups heavy cream
½ cup butter
2/3 cup flour
1 can artichoke hearts, water packed
salt and pepper to taste

Saute carrots, celery, and onion (mira poix) in butter in a large stock pot for a couple minutes and add cut up chicken breast.

Stir over medium high heat and add fine herbes and continue sauteing the veggies and chicken mixture for several minutes until chicken is no longer pink. Add broth. (The above pictures is when it is time to add the broth.) Simmer about 10 minutes or until veggies are soft. While veggies and chicken are simmering, melt ½ cup butter and stir in the flour in a separate small saucepan and stir for about one minute. Set aside.

Add the cream to the soup, bring soup mixture to boiling, and while soup is boiling rapidly, gradually stir in the butter/flour mixture while whisking very quickly to thicken the soup. Drain artichoke hearts, dice the hearts into fourths or smaller pieces as desired, add to soup. Adjust seasonings by adding salt and pepper to taste. Add more milk or chicken broth if a thinner soup is desired. Enjoy with French Bread.