How to make cock-a-leekie – recipe | Felicity Cloake’s masterclass

One in a protracted and noble record of splendidly named British soups, cockie leekie, because it’s generally recognized, is an outdated Scottish favorite that dates again to at the very least the sixteenth century, however that has its roots within the medieval culinary custom of meat and fruit pottages. It’s additionally, in my view, some of the healthful lunches or suppers possible; a real feast in a bowl.

Prep 10 min
Cook 2 hr 45 min
Serves 4

2 hen legs
2 giant leeks
1 giant carrot
1 bay leaf
100g barley (non-obligatory)
25g smooth dried prunes

1 Choose your hen

Traditionally, recipes name for an outdated boiling fowl, however these might be laborious to pay money for nowadays, whereas a complete hen yields much more meat than is required right here – by all means use one, strip off the meat and save the surplus for one thing else completely, resembling a pie, however in any other case legs are a flavourful and economical selection. (Note, a complete hen will serve eight and require double the opposite components.)

2 Poach the hen

Put the legs, pores and skin on, in a big pan with two litres of chilly water and convey to a boil, skimming off any foam that rises to the floor.

Meanwhile, wash the leeks nicely, ensuring you eliminate any grit lurking between the layers, then minimize off the coarse inexperienced components and put aside the whites till later.

3 Prep the greens

Wash and roughly chop the carrot – there’s no want to peel it, until it’s filthy. If you want, add any celery, garlic, onions or outdated herbs in want of utilizing up; peel the onion and garlic, however in any other case merely clear veg is enough, since you’ll discard them earlier than serving. I favor to hold issues easy, although.

4 Add the veg, season and cook dinner for 2 hours

Once the pan is effervescent, skim once more, then flip down the warmth to the barest simmer and add the leek tops, carrot, bay leaf and some other veg. Season with salt and a great pinch of floor pepper, ideally white, for its gentler flavour, and depart to cook dinner gently for 2 hours, checking sometimes that the combination is just not boiling.

5 Remove the greens and add the barley

Remove and discard the carrot, bay leaf and leek greens, plus some other greens you’ve put in there (that is best achieved with tongs or a slotted spoon, so that you lose as little of the broth as doable). Add the barley, if utilizing, to the pot – you could possibly swap in rice, spelt, oats and even small pasta shapes, during which case alter the cooking time as needed.

6 Add the leek whites

Cook the barley for Quarter-hour (you may skip this half for oats or pasta, as a result of it should cook dinner in the identical time because the leeks). Meanwhile, chop the reserved white a part of the leeks into chunky rounds and, as soon as the barley is beginning to soften, add these to the pan, too, and simmer for an additional 10-Quarter-hour, till each are cooked via.

7 Remove the hen and add the prunes

While the leeks are cooking, roughly chop the prunes, eradicating the stones, if needed. When the leeks and barley are prepared, rigorously carry the hen legs out of the pan, once more ensuring to take out as little liquid as doable, and put in a bowl till cool sufficient to deal with. Add the prunes to the pan, style the broth and season as you see match.

8 Pick the meat off the hen

Put 4 bowls right into a low oven to heat (or fill them with sizzling water). Pick the meat from the hen, discarding the bones and pores and skin (they need to have given up all their flavour to the soup, so there’s not a lot level in holding them for inventory, until it’s to flavour pet meals). Divide the hen meat between the bowls.

9 And serve

Reheat the broth and pour excessive of the hen to serve, snipping a couple of chives, parsley leaves or celery tops excessive in the event you’d like a splash of colour, although I have a tendency to confine the garnish to somewhat extra pepper. Like virtually all soups, this one is even higher served with strong brown bread to mop up the final of the broth.