Chicken, Leek, Tomato and Fennel Soup with Thai Spices and Annato
Please- don't panic and move on to the next blog in disgust because of the title of this post! It really isn't rude at all and can be explained- really! You see, I set out planning on making a soup using leeks, as I bought a wonderful specimen at the farmers market yesterday. As I intended to make chicken for my main course, I thought I would use the bones and a part of the meat, to make the traditional Scottish "Cock-a-leekie" soup. But that just wouldn't be "me" now, would it?
So I started my stock boiling, adding celery, carrot, fennel, finely chopped onion and garlic to the chicken bones and meat and letting it simmer for a good 45 minutes. Even after that time I wasn't sure of what to do, so I added some Thai "Tom Yum" paste into the broth. Much better! But still, something was missing...
I removed the bones from the broth and the meat from the bones. The meat went back in, as did some Tabasco and a good squeeze of lime. By now the soup was really tasty, but looked a little pale. I added the cherry tomatoes and considered adding a little tomato paste, but then reconsidered and started trying to think of something more suitable. But I couldn't. Then somehow, my instinct kicked-in and being so hopeless at geography, I made a leap from Scotland to Thailand to Mexico and added a tablespoon of Annato paste. The result was wonderful! Not only did the soup have a wonderful orange-red color now, but it also had a silky-smooth texture and a more balanced flavor on the whole... perfect!
So that was a simple starter and a great blast of flavor... all I had to do now was to think up something cool for my main dish...
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