Nourishing chicken soup with fresh shiitake mushrooms broccoli and corn

Here is a special little soup I created for a client that needs nourishment and recovery foods for a long stint in hospital, pulling in all my food as medicine notes and experience cooking for different medical conditions I came up with this little gem that the family also enjoy.

*** Note for this recipe it helps to have chicken broth already premade, I make mine well in advance and freeze in portions and freeze for later use. ***


800g organic chicken breasts
8 fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced finely
1 teaspoon fresh ginger grated
1 lemongrass stick
1 fresh lime, juiced
1 litre home made chicken broth
300g organic broccoli, cut into florets
1 fresh corn husked
2 tablespoons tamari


Method

In a large pot add hot water and the lemongrass stick, infuse for 5 minutes, add the organic chicken breasts and poach for approx 12-15 minutes, checking at 12 minutes and making sure the thick part of the breast is cooked through.
Once done drain the chicken and lemongrass into a spider/sieve and reserve the water for use later.

Leave the chicken to cool slightly then when not to hot to handle start to shred into manageable pieces, the chicken should be very moist, that's why overcooking is not advised you need to check at 12 minutes when poaching.

Using the same cooking pot add the chicken broth and start to gently simmer, add the fresh shitake mushrooms and ginger and cook for 3 minutes until shitakes are softening. Add the corn cobs, fresh lime and tamari, taste and adjust for your palate. Simmer for a further 5 minutes, lastly add the shredded chicken and the raw broccoli and cook for a further 5 minutes. The add some of the reserved poaching chicken water to get the right consistency.

Enjoy by itself or with some biodynamic brown rice

Nutritional note about shiitake mushrooms - They are 6000 years old and have been used in asian countries as food as medicine for centuries, they are also sustainable as they are forest farmed, although you will hard pressed finding certified organic ones in Australia. Used frequently for cancer patients to boost immunity. Shiitake mushrooms contain all 3 b vitamins (b2, 5 and 6) vitamin d and maganese, and are a good source of dietary fibre. They are very soft to handle and to retain all there phytonutrient properties make sure you don't over cook them. We like to add them to soups and also gently fry in coconut oil for stir fries and fantastic with scrambled eggs!

Roasted chestnut soup

Thanks michal for this recipe I have changed it slightly but not much because it works beautifully and I can't get enough of chestnuts right now they are so full of flavour and unique in texture and taste, they are considered to be from the nut family. This recipe takes awhile as preparing the chestnuts is quiet a task but well worth it

1kg chestnuts
2 cups vegetable stock
1 cup whole organic milk or almond milk
pepper and sea salt to taste
2 tablespoons ghee
1/2 brown onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 sprig rosemary

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees
Take the chestnuts and place an x on one side so that the steam can escape whilst roasting, put them on a baking tray and bake for 20-25minutes. When there ready you will know because the shell will easily come off, you need to take the shell off while they are still hot, so keep them wrapped up in a tea towel to keep the heat in.
put the ghee in saucepan and gently heat, add the onion and garlic stir around add the chestnuts (without shells), milk and stock plus the rosemary, cook for a furthur 20 minutes on low heat.
Puree in a blender until smooth and serve.

Jerusalem artichoke soup with rosemary

Fresh from the organic markets Jerusalem artichokes, they are a funny looking vegetable knobbly and awkward.
The rosemary really makes this recipe. Enjoy with a La tartine baguette and a splash of extra virgin olive oil


1 kg Jerusalem artichokes
2 cups vegetable stock
1 cup whole organic milk
1/2 brown onion, diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 full sprig rosemary
1 tablespoons organic ghee or extra virgin olive oil
1 celery stick, sliced finely

Peel the artichokes as well as you can, and splash with extra virgin olive oil and fresh pepper, place on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes on 170 degrees.
In a saucepan gently heat the ghee or oil and add the garlic, onion, rosemary and celery gently saute for 2-3 minutes.
Once the artichokes are golden and soft add to the saucepan alongside with the milk and stock cook for a further 20 minutes on a low to medium heat ( you do not want the soup boiling or bubbling)
Once cool, puree in and serve.