Scottish food: Cock-a-Leekie soup
Any self-respecting Burns Supper begins with a proper Scottish soup - either Scotch Broth or Cock-a-Leekie. As the latter is a) considerably cheaper and b) considerably easier, then that's what I made for our Burns Supper last weekend. Amazingly, so few ingredients (a chicken, some leeks and some juicy prunes) can result in such a flavoursome soup. I did dig out my Marigold bouillon powder - you know, just in case - but didn't have to touch it after all.
The amounts given below are the ones I used. If you want to follow the exact amounts given by the Scottish foodwriter Sue Lawrence, then click on the photo above.
Cock-a-leekie
(Cock-a-leekie supp ehk šotlaste kana-porrusupp)
Adapted from Scots Cooking: The Best Traditional and Contemporary Scottish Recipes
by Sue Lawrence
Serves 10 as a starter
1 chicken (1.5 kg)
3-4 large leeks (1 kg)
20 black peppercorns
about 2 litres water
20 juicy prunes, stoned
fresh parsley, chopped
Place the chicken in a large saucepan. Halve the leeks lengthwise, wash them well, then cut off the green parts. Chop these roughly and add to the pan with the peppercorns and enough water just to cover. Bring slowly to the boil, then cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover tightly and leave for about an hour.
After an hour, take out the chicken and remove the leeks, either with a slotted spoon or by draining the soup through a colander. Discard the cooked leeks. Now chop the white part of the leeks, add to the pan with the prunes and bring to the boil again. Simmer for about 10 minutes, until the leeks are just done.
Remove the chicken flesh from the bones, chop it into pieces and add these to the soup. Season with plenty of salt and pepper and serve with chopped parsley on top.
Any self-respecting Burns Supper begins with a proper Scottish soup - either Scotch Broth or Cock-a-Leekie. As the latter is a) considerably cheaper and b) considerably easier, then that's what I made for our Burns Supper last weekend. Amazingly, so few ingredients (a chicken, some leeks and some juicy prunes) can result in such a flavoursome soup. I did dig out my Marigold bouillon powder - you know, just in case - but didn't have to touch it after all.The amounts given below are the ones I used. If you want to follow the exact amounts given by the Scottish foodwriter Sue Lawrence, then click on the photo above.
Cock-a-leekie
(Cock-a-leekie supp ehk šotlaste kana-porrusupp)
Adapted from Scots Cooking: The Best Traditional and Contemporary Scottish Recipes
by Sue LawrenceServes 10 as a starter
1 chicken (1.5 kg)
3-4 large leeks (1 kg)
20 black peppercorns
about 2 litres water
20 juicy prunes, stoned
fresh parsley, chopped
Place the chicken in a large saucepan. Halve the leeks lengthwise, wash them well, then cut off the green parts. Chop these roughly and add to the pan with the peppercorns and enough water just to cover. Bring slowly to the boil, then cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover tightly and leave for about an hour.
After an hour, take out the chicken and remove the leeks, either with a slotted spoon or by draining the soup through a colander. Discard the cooked leeks. Now chop the white part of the leeks, add to the pan with the prunes and bring to the boil again. Simmer for about 10 minutes, until the leeks are just done.Remove the chicken flesh from the bones, chop it into pieces and add these to the soup. Season with plenty of salt and pepper and serve with chopped parsley on top.
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