Food with JP passion – Chicken Soup & Brown Bread

By JP Kennedy

John Paul Kennedy is a self-taught cook and an avid fan of collecting cookery books with a passion for good old-fashioned home cooking.

His passion for proper family cooking stems from his TWO Grandmothers, who were both excellent cooks, one of whom was a trained chef.

JP promises to bring us plenty of family-inspired recipes and tasty treats while showing us how to get the basics right.

With the New Year starting, most of us, after the over-indulgence at Christmas, try to be more health-conscious and eat well.

These two recipes are the perfect kickstart to get you eating healthily again.

 

The chicken soup uses leftover roast chicken or turkey, whichever you prefer, along with some staple vegetables we all tend to have in the veggie press of the fridge.

I made this along with my Health Loaf brown bread a few days after Christmas. I had tired of the heavy over-indulgent food of the previous few days.

 

Believe me with every spoonful I could feel the goodness! It also helped with a head cold I was battling at the time.

The soup you can make in a big batch and freeze, while the health loaf makes two delicious loaves, so plenty to go around and keep you on the straight and narrow in January.

Happy New Year to all The Echo readers and I hope you enjoy these lighter, healthier recipes to kickstart the New Year.

Healthy Leftovers Chicken Soup

• 300g leftover roast chicken or turkey
• 3 carrots peeled and chopped into chunks
• 2 parsnips peeled and chopped into chunks
• 2 celery sticks washed and chopped
• 4 spring onions finely chopped
• Tablespoon of chopped parsley
• Tablespoon of chopped thyme
• 800ml hot chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons of Chicken Gravy granules
• (To thicken if preferred)
• Sea salt and ground black pepper for seasoning
• Teaspoon of olive oil

Method:

• 1. In a large casserole dish add the olive oil and on a medium heat cook all of the vegetables, herbs until tender – approx. 8-10 minutes and stir frequently
• 2. Add hot chicken stock and mix well. Then season with salt and pepper and allow to simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on
• 3. At the very end add the roast chicken/turkey leftovers to heat throughout and chicken gravy granules if you prefer a thicker consistency. If you prefer a more broth-like soup leave this out
• 4. Serve immediately in large bowls with my delicious Brown Bread Health Loaf.

Brown Bread Health loaf

(Recipe makes two loaves)

• 450g wholemeal flour
• 65g wheatgerm (extra for dusting)
• 65g wheat bran and 65g plain flour
• 225g pinhead oatmeal
• 2 teaspoons of soft light-brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons of bicarb/bread soda
• 1 litre of buttermilk

Topping:

• 2 teaspoons of wheatgerm
• 2 teaspoons of sesame seeds

Method:

• 1. Preheat your oven to 230° Celsius
• 2. Put all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl
• 3. Stir in the buttermilk and combine – this will make a moist dough
• 4. Grease two loaf tins and dust with some wheatgerm and divide the dough between the two tins – this will prevent them from sticking to your tins
• 5. Sprinkle some wheatgerm and sesame seeds on top of both loaves and pop into the oven
• 6. Bake for 10 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 130° Celsius and bake for an hour
• 7. When the loaves are baked remove from the oven and allow to cool in their tins before turning them out to cool completely
• 8. Slice and lather with real Irish butter and serve with my leftover chicken soup for a delicious and nutritious lunch or supper

I first made this bread around eight years ago and it’s a recipe I come back to time and time again.

I love making bread that doesn’t require any proving and this recipe simply requires you to weigh out some ingredients bring, together with some buttermilk, place into two loaf tins and pop in the oven and you have delicious homemade brown bread.

My late mother Olive adored this bread and often said it was the closest she had ever tasted to her mother’s, my nanny Farrell’s brown bread which is why I always think of them both when I make it.

This has become my family staple brown brown and I hope it will become your family’s favourite brown bread recipe too.

Contact JP on:

Twitter: @JPKCooking
Email: JPKCooking@gmail.com
Instagram: jpkennedy.kennedy