CHICKEN SOUP W/ APPLES AND LEEKS

Steps:

• Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
• Melt the butter over medium heat in a saute pan just large enough to hold the chicken.
• Add the chicken, skin side down, and cook for about eight minutes over medium heat.
• If the butter in the pan starts to brown, lower the heat slightly.
• Turn the chicken and light saute in the same way for five minutes more.
• Remove the chicken from the pan and place it in a bowl.
• If the butter in the saute pan has burned, pour it out and replace it with two tablespoons fresh butter.
• Add the leeks and cook them for 10 minutes over medium heat.
• Stir the leeks every couple of minutes.
• They should be soft but not brown.
• Put the chicken back in the pan with the leeks.
• Add the apples, apple juice, vinegar and broth.
• Bring the liquids to a slow simmer and with a ladle skim off any fat or froth that floats to the top.
• Cover the pot and simmer the chicken very gently for 10-15 minutes , until it is completely cooked.
• Remove the chicken and let it cool.
• Remove and discard the skin and pull the meat away from the bones.
• Cut the meat into half inch chunks.
• Use a ladle to skim off any fat that has formed on the surface of the liquid in a saute pan.
• Add the Calvados and the heavy cream.
• Bring to a simmer and season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Heat the chunks of chicken in the soup for two minutes and serve immediately in hot bowls.
• Suggestions and variations: Try adding a cup of sliced mushrooms along with the apples.
• The mushroom flavor goes well with the other ingredients, and the mushrooms make the soup more substantial.
• This soup is also delicious with curry, which can be added by gently cooking a tb of curry powder in a tb of butter and stirring it into the soup shortly before serving.