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!

Kerfir soaked spelt blueberry and vanilla muffins

After a long break from blogging due to pregnancy and also a hectic catering schedule here is a very simple and nourishing muffin recipe inspired by the muffin recipe in nourishing traditions by Sally Fallon, I soaked the flour for 24 hours and once done it is elastic and resembles the texture of sourdough. Soaking grains has many nutritional advantages the main one been easy digestion. If you have every tried any of the eithopian flatbreads or indian breads they are all fermented up to 3 days in water or a culture to make them more digestable, we don't do it much here in the western world but its well worth investgating for your families gut health.
Here is a great little article for more info

3 cups spelt flour (I grinded mine from grain in a thermomix but you don't have too!)
2 cups home made kefir or buttermilk
3 tablespoon raw honey
1 teaspoon real vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 fresh organic eggs
3 tablespoons melted coconut oil or butter
1/2 teaspoon seasalt
1 cup blueberries

Method
In a large bowl sift the flour and add the kefir or buttermilk
Cover the bowl with a teatowel and leave in a warm place in the kitchen for 24 hours
Grease a muffin tin with some coconut oil or butter
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees
Whisk eggs in a clean bowl
Take your mixture that has been fermenting for 24 hours and add the raw honey, coconut oil or butter, vanilla, eggs, baking soda and seasalt
In each little hole of the muffin pan add 4 blueberries then ladle in the flour mixture and add 5 more blueberries on top
Bake in a preheated oven for 35 minutes
I have added cultured cream to my muffins just before eating which is delicious or have some yoghurt

Turkish eggplants

This recipe came about with 2 eggplants and a bunch of random ingredients I had on hand, it was really delicious and my client has asked for them again on the menu. Eggplant is great for clearing heat in the body also bringing energy to the uterus for women I love eggplant as a great vegetarian base for many dishes and its fleshy chewy texture. Its also great with pasta and in moussaka of course with lamb mince.



2 whole eggplants
1 cup cooked basmati rice
1/2 brown onion, diced finely
1 teaspoon cumin ground
1 teaspoon coriander ground
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon grated garlic
1 teaspoon cinnamon ground
1 zucchini, diced small
3 tablespoons pine nuts
2 tablespoons of currants or dried apricot cut very fine


Preheat the oven to 180 degrees
Cut eggplants in half and rub olive oil into each one and bake for 25 minutes until tender (can poke a fork through easily)
Set aside
Heat a fry pan with some ghee and fry the onion, ginger and garlic until cooked, add all the spices and stir around releasing the aromas, remove and put in a bowl.
Add the cooked basmati, spice mix you have just cooked with aromatics, pine nuts and zucchini.
Scoop the cooked eggplant out leaving a shell and add the cooked eggplant to your rice mixture, mix around with your hands
now put this mixture back into the eggplant shell and cook for another 15 minutes rubbing some olive oil or ghee on top before baking to keep moist

Serve with white fish or by themselves