Rustic Chicken, Leek and Yoghurt Soup

Welcome to the very first post on the Gourmet Wog.

I don’t really know where this blog will lead me. At present it’s a hobby, hopefully one day I can quit my rat race job and make this my full-time job. Who knows what the future holds! Ambitious? Yeah, true that!

After being a full-time stay at home mum for a year, I thought of lots and lots of ways to keep myself busy, dreamed of the dishes I would prepare and the imaginary garden that would feed us. Who knew motherhood itself was so demanding and a job in its own right. I’ve since gone back to the corporate world full time. Now that my daughter is 19 months old and curious to see what Mummy is doing in the kitchen its time to reopen the Pandora’s box of dreams and inhibitions that this blog will hopefully fulfill.

So in Sydney at the moment, its warm and incredibly humid for an Autumn day; but come sunset, the drop in temperature is extreme and this dish is the one I crave the most on a cool crisp night.

Its rustic, ok its pretty ugly but it tastes amazing.

So I’m pretty hopeless with ingredients quantities. Any good Wog Mumma will tell you ‘A bit of this and a bit of that’. I never make this by measurement, it’s just what feels right. Try it, you will be amazed at your ability to start picking up on flavours, what’s needed and what it is lacking.

Rustic Chicken, Leek and Yoghurt Soup
An original recipe by the Gourmet Wog

* Chicken: I use one thigh fillet per person you plan to cook for, diced.
* 1 big Leek, washed and sliced
* Butter, use as little or as much as you like. Alternatively a good Olive Oil is great too!
* 1 cup Basmati Rice
* Chicken Stock. Use home made where possible, this will make ALL the difference
* Full Cream Greek Style Yoghurt (a 1L tub is enough for 4 people).
* 2 free range eggs (can be left out if you have an intolerance, but if you do add it, it just creates another dimension of creamy yummy goodness)
* Dried Mint

Method: This is the easy part!
Saute your leeks in lots of yummy creamy butter or lavish Olive Oil until soft and gooey. Add the diced Chicken to your leeks and brown for a few minutes.
In the meantime, wash your rice in a colander until the water runs clear and add the rice to the leek and chicken combo. Stir for a minute.
To the same pan, add your chicken stock. Add enough to cover all the chicken, leek and rice and then add a little more. One more splash, just for fun.
Bring it all to the boil and cook it for 5-7 minutes, straining the impurities that may rise to the top with a spoon.
After its been boiling away, reduce the heat down to a simmer till the rice is cooked. Crack the eggs straight into your yoghurt tub (that is, if you are using the whole tub) and stir to incorporate the eggs into the yogurt. Mix the yoghurt and egg mixture straight into the pot and bring it back to the boil, constantly stirring for another 2 minutes.
At this point I would season the soup with plenty of salt and pepper and about 2 tablespoons of dried Mint. The mint adds this beautiful floral taste to the creamy soup and sticky rice.
Drizzle with a good Extra Virgin Olive Oil and serve hot with some garlic bread, toasted Turkish or a good Sourdough.
Enjoy and Bon Appetit!