Caldo de Pollo

London gets on a stand by when we get some centimetres of snow, the public transport just collapse, businesses don’t open and schools closes. It is incredible, but I think that this lovely city it is just not fit for extreme weather.

As hard is for me to accept it, I do like the idea of staying at home all cosy, so when my children’s school closes because of the snow, I get all excited as this means we can stay the three of us in bed in the morning and then just watch films, eat comfort food and drinks litres of Mexican hot choc! It is the best thing in the world.

Today my children are at home & I had a whole organic chicken in my fridge, so I asked myself, what do I do with it? And my daughter, who absolutely loves soups, said to me, “Caldito de Pollo mami”, for you that means Mexican Chicken Soup and I think, “yes, that is the best way a Mexican mum would keep warm in this cold weather”.

Caldo de Pollo is one of the most love recipes in my family. When I was a child my dad would made a massive pot of it and we would eat it for days and my mum would say “Eat it all, it is full of vitamins!” and we were not allowed to leave a single bit.

I know everybody has their own version of a chicken soup, some with lots of spices, others with herbs and others with a few vegetables; in Mexico we usually add lots of vegetbles, like corn on the cob, carrots, courgettes, chayote, peas and some people, like my dad, even put rice.

Anyway, how ever it’s prepared we all agree that a chicken soup is the cure for everything and is one of the most cosiest recipes that has ever been created, when you feel down or cold a Caldito de Pollo and you will feel better straight away.

At home we eat it like we do in Mexico with a bit of lime juice & something spicy, then we have hot corn tortillas and it makes the soup a complete proper meal.

So today this recipe is perfect for you, packed with nice flavours and deliciousness.

Here is the recipe, I hope you enjoy it. Now after having eating a big bowl of this yummy soup, I am going to bed hoping to sleep nice all night and wake up tomorrow not feeling cold. Buenas noches!

Serves 4

Prep 10 min

Cook 45 to 1 hr

Ingredients

• 4 chicken legs (on the bone) or 8 drumsticks
• 2 tomatoes, washed and cut in half
• 1 medium onion, peeled and cut in half
• 4 medium carrots washed, peeled and cut in chunks
• 12 baby potatoes, washed and cut in halves
• 2 courgettes, washed and cut in chunks
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 4 small corn on the cob (optional)
• 1 handful of basmati rice (optional)
• Small bunch fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 pepper corns
• 2 pints water or more if necessary

Method

1. In a large casserole dish (dutch oven) put the chicken together with the tomato, onion, garlic, coriander, water, salt, pepper corns and coriander and let it come to a boil. Make sure the water covers the chicken and don’t be tempted to add more as it could ruin the taste of the broth.
2. Once it starts boiling, turn the heat down and remove any impurities  with a spoon. Let the chicken cook for around 20 minutes, then remove the tomatoes, onion and garlic and blend them until smooth. add this sauce to the broth. Remove the peppercorns and then start adding the vegetables.
3. First add the carrots and potatoes, after 5 min add the courgettes, rice and corn on the cob.
4. Let it cook for 10 to 15 min or until the chicken meat is tender and veggies cooked.
5. Enjoy it like a proper mexican, with some warm corn tortillas, something spicy and lime juice.

Listo!

Provecho!