Middle Eastern Almond Soup with homemade chicken stock

👨‍🍳 Method

For the homemade chicken stock ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 1
   Put the chicken, the onion, carrot, celery, parsley, bay leaves and peppercorns and the water in a pot and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam that rises during the first 15 minutes with a spoon.

   StovePot
2. 2
   Turn down and simmer gently 2.5–3 hours.

   Stove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
3. 3
   Strain the stock.

   Colander

For the Fried onion

1. 4
   Ahead of time, soak the saffron in 2 tablespoons hot water.
2. 5
   Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat.

   StovePot
3. 6
   Add the onion and fry 8–10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.

   Stove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
4. 7
   Add the garlic and fry about 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.

   Stove

   💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.

To assemble

1. 8
   Add the cumin and stir 1 minute.
2. 9
   Add the vegetables, stock and saffron water and bring to a boil.

   Stove
3. 10
   Turn down the heat and simmer 20 minutes, until the vegetables is completely tender.

   Stove
4. 11
   Blend with an immersion blender until smooth and creamy.

   Stick blender
5. 12
   Pass the blended soup through a strainer into a clean pot, for a completely smooth texture.

   Fine sievePot
6. 13
   Add the cream, season with salt and black pepper and heat another 5 minutes.

   Stove

   💡The cream or cheese goes in after blending, over low heat: a hard boil after adding them can make the soup separate.
7. 14
   Sprinkle the leaves over each bowl.