Once upon a time I avoided tarragon, deeming it my least favourite herb. But I think I stayed away from it long enough to begin enjoying it again, in small doses. And so it’s in todays recipe! It’s not exactly winter here in Australia yet but we have had some ‘soup weather’ recently.. so I give you my chicken & fresh corn soup with some lovely extra’s.. like potato, bacon & of course just a hint of tarragon. I was going to use fresh tarragon but my supermarket only had rotten/mouldy leaves. As it happens, a decent pinch of the dried stuff did a great job. The creaminess in this dish comes from blending half the soup to a coarse puree and adding it back into the unblended soup. My photo’s don’t feature the bacon on top because I mistakingly stirred it into the soup! The bacon would have been ‘special’ on top rather than lost somewhere in the soup. Do consider having a special loaf of bread with this too.. it makes it a complete meal & turns up the yummy-factor many notches.
Creamy Chicken & Fresh Corn Corn Soup
-350 grams chicken fillets, diced
-1 onion, chopped
-4 fresh corn cobs, husks & silk removed, kernels cut off
-2 medium sized potatoes
-1/2 teaspoon of dried tarragon
-4 cups salt reduced chicken stock
-4 cups skim milk
-6 lean, rindless bacon rashers, grilled & sliced for garnish (not long, middle bacon)
-small amount of oil for sauteeing
-salt & white pepper to taste
-Good quality bread to serve (we had an artisan parmesan/sourdough loaf from Woolworths in the bakery cupboard section)
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-Saute onions until soft but not brown & set aside on a plate
-Saute potatoes & corn for approximately 5 minutes
-Add chicken stock & bring to boil, then simmer for another 5 minutes
-Add milk, chicken, tarragon & seasoning
-Cook until potatoes are tender & chicken cooked through (5 to 10 min’s)
-Blend half the mixture in a bowl with a stab-blender to a coarse puree or place half of the mixture into a blender & do the same
-Pour the blended soup back in with the chunkier, unblended soup
-Serve in bowls topped with chopped, grilled bacon & serve with thick-cut crusty bread
Half of the soup, blended and ready to add back into the unblended soup.
The bacon (meant for the garnish!) is floating in there somewhere…
