Creamed Chicken & Leeks
Submitted by clayz
Bone-in chicken poached with leeks and celery in a silky egg yolk-and-cream enriched broth with lemon. A refined French-style braised chicken that’s pure elegance in a soup plate.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
40 minREADY
60 minThis is French home cooking at its most refined: chicken braised gently with leeks, celery, and a bouquet garni until the meat practically falls off the bone.
The braising liquid gets pureed and reduced into a concentrated, flavorful broth, then enriched with a classic liaison of egg yolks and heavy cream that turns it velvety and rich.
A squeeze of lemon keeps everything bright, and a shower of fresh parsley finishes each bowl.
Served in wide soup plates, it’s the kind of dish that feels like a warm embrace on a cold night.
Chef Tips
- Use bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts for this recipe; the bones and skin add tremendous body to the broth.
- Temper the egg yolk mixture slowly by adding hot broth one ladle at a time while whisking constantly, or the eggs will scramble.
- Never let the soup boil after adding the liaison; keep it just below a simmer to maintain that silky texture.
- Clean leeks thoroughly by splitting them lengthwise and rinsing between layers where grit loves to hide.
Ingredients
Directions
Heat the butter in a saucepan.
When foaming subsides, but before it gets brown add the leeks and celery and ¼ cup of the chicken broth.
Cover and simmer over low heat for 5 minutes; do not let it get brown.
Add the chicken, skin side up along with bouquet garni and enough of the broth to just cover the chicken.
Cover and simmer, over very low heat for 30 minutes or until chicken is just cooked through.
Remove chicken from the broth; remove and discard skin and bones and cut chicken into chunks.
Remove and discard bouquet garni.
Purée the liquid through a food mill and return it to the saucepan.
Add remaining broth and boil it down until reduced to 4 cups.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Add lemon juice to chicken and set in microwavable dish.
Blend egg yolks and cream together.
Very slowly ladle 1 cup of hot broth into the mixture.
Return this tempered mixture to the soup and bring to under a simmer to thicken.
Reheat chicken for a minute in microwave oven and distribute it among 4 soup plates.
Ladle thickened broth over chicken and garnish with parsley.
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