Hi there!
I always wanted to try something like this, so the other day, I just went to the store and bought all I needed.
You'll want to do that, too, and get:
-
1 whole chicken
-
3 eggs
-
mayonnaise
-
sour cream
-
curd cheese
-
laurel leaves (dried)
-
onion
-
garlic
-
lemon
-
mustard
-
black peppercorns (whole)
-
salt
-
thyme (dried)
-
rosemary (dried)
-
olive oil
-
water
Now, first of all, you have to cook the
chicken.
Halve the
onion and peel one half. Peel the
garlic, cut it once lenghtwise and remove the small, light green part inside of it.
Pour some
olive oil into a pot and roast the
onion.
To do that, you put the
onion into the hot oil, flat side down, and let it rest for a while, until the
onion is brown, but not burnt.
Put some
water into the pot (about as much as is needed to cover the
chicken and 1-2 inches more.
Add
black peppercorns, some
salt, 2-3
laurel leaves, the
garlic-clove-halves and let it boil.
When the
water is boiling, add the
chicken, whole.
While the
chicken is cooking, boil 3
eggs for about 9 minutes or till they're hard.
Put them in cold
water (I add ice) to cool them and make them easier to peel, then, when you can bear touching them/they'r cooled down, peel them and throw away the shells. Now chop the
eggs roughly.
When the
chicken is cooked, take it out of the
water and on a plate.
Now, with a fork and a knife, remove the meat from the bones and put it on another plate. Throw away the bones or let them cook a little longer with the soup for more taste.
Put the
chicken into a blender and add about half a cup of the
chicken broth, or better, less.
Blend.
Add the
eggs, about 2 tablespoons of
mayonnaise, 1 1/2 tblsp of
curd cheese and 1 1/2 tblsp of
sour cream.
Blend again. If the mixture is too dry, add a little of the
chicken broth,
mayonnaise or
sour cream, if it's too liquid, boil another
egg and add half of it.
Add a pinch of dried
thyme and a pinch of dried
rosemary, as well as a teaspoon of
mustard and the juice of half a
lemon.
Blend.
Add
salt and
pepper to taste.
Put the mousse into a tupperware or a bowl or whatever you have lying around and refrigerate.
Serve on white bread, toasted white bread, crackers,...
Tips:
1. Add some tabasco, if you'd like, to spice it up.
2. If you halve a garlic clove lengthwise, you will see a thin, usually light green or yellowish thing in the middle. This is some kind of shoot, it's the part that will grow into the plant, if you put the garlic into the earth (or let it sit around for a long time in a dark place). Remove this and you will reduce garlic breath and body odour the next day.
3. To give a broth a stronger flavour and the "typical" golden colour, halve an
onion, peel it, and roast it flat side down in a little oil. The brown residue in the pot and the browned part of the
onion cause the colour and make the broth taste better. (If you want to be fancy, you can add some burnt sugar, otherwise known as caramel).
4. If you're cooking the chicken for the meat, let the water boil first, then add the chicken, don't let it cook for too long, just till it's done.
If you want a good chicken soup, put the bird into the water when it's still cold, then boil. This way, the soup will taste more of chicken, but the meat will be drier.
5. If you remove the meat from the bones of a
chicken, put the bones, the skin and all little bits you couldn't get off the bones, back into the
water and let it cook a little longer. This way, you'll get tender meat and a good-tasting soup.
6. To peel eggs easily, I crack the shells in the middle, all the way around the egg, then I carefully press and pull to peel away the shell. Sometimes this tears the egg apart, but if you don't need it whole, like for this recipe, this doesn't matter.
This way is easier, because you usually don't have to clean off tons of small pieces, but you have to be gentle.
