Does such a thing exist? We are having a "Tale of Despereaux" Party Friday night and will be serving chicken soup. For those of you who have not read the book, the soup contains garlic, chicken and watercress. I don't even know what watercress is! I have looked at several recipe sites and in every cookbook I have and have not found anything. I have found chicken soup and watercress soup, but not one that combines the two. I am not a good cook and don't know if the two will taste good together. We have invited another family to join us and I don't want to serve them yucky soup! I will take any comments and suggestions. Thanks!
http://www.recipezaar.com/Chicken-and-Watercress-Soup-15612
I saw another mom posted this. thought I would put the link up for you as well.
I just googled chicken and watercress soup and several sites popped up--
Good luck sounds like a fun party!!
I found this recipe at www.recipezaar.com (one of my favorite recipe websites!). This recipe has an Asian flare to it and was rated 4+ stars out of 5. One more thing, you'll just need to add garlic to the soup. Hope this is helpful. Enjoy! -L.-
Chicken and Watercress Soup Recipe #15612
20 min | 10 min prep
SERVES 3
1 chicken breast, skinless,deboned and sliced into small pieces
6 canned shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly
watercress, cut into 2 portions (a handful)
6 cups chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cornflour
1 teaspoon rice wine
1 dash pepper
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
Marinate chicken with salt, cornflour and rice wine, pepper and sesame oil.
Bring chicken stock to boil in a saucepan.
Add in the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes.
Add in the chicken and stir to separate the chicken slices.
When soup starts to boil, add in the watercress and stir.
Cook for 1-2 minutes.
Remove and serve in a soup bowl.
allrecipies.com has a feature where you type in the ingredients you want-
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Potage-aux-Legumes-Green-Veg...
soup it brought up with your ingredients- well the chicken was only broth, but i'm sure you could add the meat too!
did you try allrecipes.com or epicurious.com? I think the two would taste fine together! watercress is a litte green leafy plant that will wilt when in soup.
It exists!
Watercress does, that is. It is a cruchy (when raw) green. You might be able to get it at more upscale grocery stores that have good specialty vegetable departments. If you can't find it, use some good green, such as spinach for your soup.
Just make a good chicken soup (instructions below if you don't have a favorite recipe), chop up your watercress/greens, and pop them in your soup just before you serve it so that they are wilted but not obliterated.
Chicken Broth: Put chicken carcass/pieces in a pot (I use a chicken carcass after I have baked the chicken and cut the meat off of it for another meal). Lacking that, use a couple of chicken legs. Add about 3 stalks celery, cut up, 2 - 3 carrots, peeled and sliced, 2 garlic cloves, minced, and 1 onion, sectioned and flaked. Add sufficient water to cover the chicken, bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for about 2 hours. Remove the chicken bones, let cool, and remove any meat from the bones. Flake the meat into small pieces and return to the soup. Add salt, pepper and herbs (I like rosemary) to taste. If you chill the broth, the fat will rise to the surface and you can peel it off before you reheat it, thereby reducing the fat content.
You now have a good chicken stock/soup base. For your soup, you can add other vegetables as you see fit - in your case, watercress - homemade or commercial noodles, or barley. Be creative!
Here is one I came across, just add a little garlic and you're done!
Watercress Soup
- By Margaret Johnson
Ingredients:
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups sliced onions
• 2 cups sliced potatoes
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 bunch watercress, thoroughly washed and coarsely chopped
• 1 cup milk or cream (optional)
• 1/2 cup croutons for garnish
Directions:
In a large saucepan with a lid, melt the butter over low heat. Stir in onions, cover, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft but not brown. Stir in potatoes, stock, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover pan, and simmer until potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes. Add watercress for last 5 minutes of simmering. Remove lid and let soup cool. Transfer to a food processor or blender and process until smooth. Chill until ready to serve. Add milk or cream, if desired.
To serve, ladle into soup bowls and top with croutons
To give perspective, some people use watercress instead of lettuce for salad. You can find watercress salad recipes. You can use it on sanwhiches. You can purchase it any time at Whole Foods, and it is purchased by the bunch, with roots still attaced. (in the salad area). If you don't see it, just ask. Watercress is delicate, so I would imagine it would be added at the last minute. It has a peppery taste & I can imagine it in a chicken soup.
In this recipe she substitues parsley for the watercress, and it is used as a garnish.
http://www.anniesartbook.com/2009/04/despereauxs-soup.html
Good luck!!
Garlic & chicken always go together well. I had to look up watercress though-I just knew people served watercress sandwiches for tea. Wiki said it's got a peppery, tangy flavor. Sounds like it would be a great addition to chicken soup! I love peppery chicken noodle soup! It also said it's one of the main ingredients in V8. If that's where the tang comes from, along w/the tomato taste, I think you can't go wrong w/your soup having watercress in it. I've never seen the movie or read the book-are you looking for a brothy soup or a creamy soup? I think I would take the chicken/garlic soup recipe & add watercress until it tastes good to you.
If you're worried, do a trial soup before Friday. Make a small pot of it & test it out w/your family. Good luck!
