Flu Busting Broth
Everyone in the UK, including me, seems to have caught a cold this week. The following simple broth is guaranteed to rehydrate, refresh and replenish your weakened body. For those with a head bunged up like a choux bun, pile in more of the optional aromatics for a steamy sinus-busting soup.
Flu Busting Broth
Neil Armstrong
Serves 4
Basic Broth 1 leek, halved & washed 1 carrot, peeled & thickly sliced 1 onion, peeled & halved 2 sticks celery, thickly sliced 2 cloves garlic, peeled 8 chicken wings (optional) Optional Aromatics A cup of vermouth or white wine A few sprigs of fresh parsley, thyme, chervil, rosemary or tarragon 1 dried red chilli A handful of mushrooms, cleaned 1 stick lemongrass, sliced open A slice of lemon A penny size piece of fresh ginger, peeled 1 star anise A good pinch of saffron 2 bay leaves 5-10 peppercorns To serve Salt and cracked black pepper to taste Method
- Put all the ingredients of the basic broth into a suitably large pot.
- Raid your store cupboard and fridge for as many of the optional aromatics as you can find, or would like, and add them to the pot.
- Cover with cold water until all the ingredients are submerged by 2 cm/1 inch. Bring to a very light simmer and maintain at this temperature for 1 hour. Do not boil.
- Without disturbing the broth, gently strain the liquid through a fine sieve into a large bowl. Season the strained broth to taste and allow to cool before storing in the fridge until needed. (Discard any ingredients left behind in the sieve as they should have given all of their goodness and flavour to the broth.)
- Reheat the broth for service and enjoy.
