This soup came about because of a continuing education project that I did with my current company. During one of our slow periods the chefs were tasked with researching different ingredients, then to do a quick introduction into each one, including dishes they were cooked with, origination, etc.
The ingredient I chose to present to the chefs I work with is Freekeh. It originates from Levantine and North African Cuisine and it's found in dishes all over the region. It's essentially a processed durum wheat, but the process is harvesting green, then toasting and smoking it to give a unique flavor to dishes. You can substitute it for basically any grain in a recipe and come out with a similar dish that has a smokey base to it.
After I looked into freekeh I went around to a couple of international markets and found some. I decided to make a nice robust chicken and sausage soup that was underlined by the smoked flavor of freekeh.
The process I used to make this was straightforward. I roasted a chicken and pulled the meat, then started with a base of charred corn and Argentine spicy sausage. I fortified a chicken broth to blanch off my vegetables, then added chicken and the broth to the soup base. After I cooked it for a bit I added my par cooked, washed freekeh to the soup and simmered until it was done.
As with most of my soups, this is just a simple base recipe. Feel free and change the ingredients to what you would like, but the combination of spicy sausage, smoked freekeh, charred corn, chicken, and crunchy vegetables make this a very soup to try out.
Enjoy.
Ingredients
Roasted Chicken 1 ea
Garlic cloves, sliced 4 ea
Onion, diced 2 ea
Corn, shaved, cob reserved 4 ea
Chicken stock 3 qts
Freekeh 2 cups
Celery, diced 4 ribs
Gold potatoes, diced 1 lb
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Crushed Red Pepper 1 tsp
Thyme 3 sprigs
Bay leaves 2 ea
Garnish
Cracked Black Pepper, Sliced Scallions
Method of Procedure
Prepare your roasted chicken and set aside. Once cooled remove the chicken from the bones and cube up the meat.
Reserve your chicken bones to make a chicken stock.
Char your sausages and corn in a saute pan, or use a grill, roast in the oven then remove and cool. Once cooled slice your sausage and remove the kernels from your cobs, reserving the cobs to fortify the stock.
Put your chicken stock into a separate pot and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper then blanch off your diced potatoes and celery. Remove your vegetables and reserve both the broth and the vegetables.
Toast your freekeh lightly, rinse off and par cook as you would any cereal grain.
Saute your onions and garlic with your crushed red pepper in your stock pot until your onions soften.
Add your corn and sausage and continue to cook while stirring.
Put in your cubed chicken, thyme, bay leaves, salt, and pepper.
Add your stock and your corn cobs to your soup and bring to a simmer for around 1 hour to blend the flavors.
Remove your corn cobs and add your diced vegetables.
Season to taste.
To serve add about 1 oz of cooked freekeh to a sauce pot and add about 7 oz of soup to the pot. Bring to a simmer, season to taste and pour into a bowl.
Garnish with scallions and cracked black pepper.
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