This is a two, or three-part recipe, but trust me, it’s easy and was definitely worth it!
French Creamy Soup
I was originally going to make the Mirepoix (French vegetable stock, essentially), but at the last minute I decided not to throw away the veggies and just make a soup instead.
Ingredients
3 “stalks” of Celery
5 Carrots
2 large Onions
1 tbsp French “Four Tastes” spice (ground black pepper, nutmeg, ground cloves, dried ginger) or Allspice.
Salt
I Wash everything, peel carrots and onions. Chop everything and throw them into a pot or use a Slow Cooker. Diced size doesn’t really matter, as you’re going to cook them so long anyways. Cover them generously with water. Season with salt. Bring to boil and let simmer for hours. I left mine in the slow cooker for 8 to 10 hours (mostly because I forgot about them…)
At this point you can drain the liquid and throw the vegetable mash aside and you have Mirepoix. I ran the whole thing through a blender and ended up what we here in Finland call “sosekeitto” (which is translated to “creamy soup”, but it doesn’t really compare). So that is done, next chicken.
Breaded Chicken
This is just normal breaded chicken, so if you’re already familiar with it, you can skip this part. You could possible use ready-made breaded chicken from the store, but then you won’t be able to make the tomato sauce.
So I cut my chicken breasts in half to make them thinner (so they cook evenly throughout). Take one plate of white flour, one plate of breadcrumbs, a small bowl of 1-2 eggs. Mix eggs well. Season all containers and the chicken individually (as this is not a marinade recipe, you won’t have the time to soak the chicken in anything). I seasoned mine with just ground black pepper and salt and used my “Special Mix” (Hawaiian seasalt, black pepper, chili flakes, dried garlic) of spices on the chicken itself.
Heat pan and use butter and/or oil, but gently. Don’t drown the chicken. Medium to high heat.
Take a chicken, toss it over a couple if times in the flour, dunk it into the egg mix and then toss it over the breadcrumbs, covering all of it.
Into the pan it goes. Fry it well from both sides, it takes only a couple of minutes per side because the chicken is so thin. If you like your chicken crispy (like I do), don’t be afraid to “overcook” it slightly and use real butter. The texture and taste of the slightly crispy chicken is heavenly.
So that is done, but you still have your pan full of residue from the chicken an spices and butter, full of flavor. So you’ll make a sauce.
Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
Whatever is left on the pan
rest of the breadcrumbs and flour used in breading
2 dl finely mashed tomatoes
1 Onion
Few leaves of Basil
water
Pour half a liter of water into the pan and scrape all of the flavor from the pan into the water. Bring to boil.
Peel and make fine diced onion. Take a few leaves of Basil and roll them together, then chop. (Chiffonade cut)
Take another container, pour about 2 dl water into it and pour the rest of the flour and breadcrumbs into it. Mix well. Mix gently into the boiling water. When it starts to thicken and become more of a mash than a soup, stop. Mix well for a couple of minutes. Add mashed tomatoes (you can probably also use Tomato Puree for this). Cook for a minute or two. Add onion. Add water if you want more liquid-y soup, or add more of the flour mix if you want thicker. I wanted mine quite liquid, so I added almost half a liter of water at this point. Bring to boil again and cook for 5 minutes or so, then add chopped basil leaves.
Serve with chicken on plate with side of tomato sauce, garnish with one whole Basil leaf. Pour the Creamy Soup into a small bowl, then gently pour in a thin ring with low-fat cream, garnish with a pinch of chives.