Our teenager Jemima is our wild child. She is out there in every way, but maybe my easiest eater, as she’ll pretty much eat anything as long as it’s delicious! She ate well from an early age, but now my focus is keeping her healthy into her hormone raging teenage years. This, I will confess, can be a struggle. I know Jemima eats well at home, but when she’s with her mates, all bets are off. I’m learning that I can’t control everything she’s eating and it’s time for her to make her own decisions. I live in hope that once we all come through the tough teenage years she’ll ask me to teach her how to make all the delicious meals she’s grown up loving!
There are certain things Jemima absolutely loves, and one thing I know she’ll never pass up is a bowl of my Love and Bones Broth Tomato soup, which I’ll serve with poached chicken breast or thigh, and a some of Iggy’s croutons, topped off with basil oil. Her favourite vegetable is brussels sprouts (go figure) so usually I sauté these with a little butter, garlic, onion, and peas along with some broccoli, which is the only non-negotiable vegetable on my kids’ plates every night.
INGREDIENTS
For the Love and Bones Broth tomato soup with poached chicken
2 kilos of tomatoes. I prefer heirloom varieties or really over ripe tomatoes as I believe they impart the best flavour.
1 onion, peeled and roughly sliced
2-4 garlic cloves, peeled
A handful of sage leaves, washed
A sprig or two of rosemary
50g butter, melted
Himalayan seat salt
Freshly ground pepper
A sprinkle of chilli flakes
1L of Love and Bones Broth
1 small pastured chicken thigh (for poaching)
A dollop of whole cream (for serving)
For the basil oil
1 bunch of basil, leaves washed
Lemon juice
Good quality olive oil
For the croutons
A loaf of day old bread
50g of butter
For the mixed green veg
Small handful of brussels sprouts or broccoli
Small handful of fresh peas
1 clove of garlic
1 small onion, sliced
A few table spoons of basic broth
Method
For the Love and Bones Broth tomato soup with poached chicken
Wash and chop the tomatoes into halves and quarters depending on their size. If using cherry tomatoes just slice them through the middle. Place tomatoes in a deep baking dish. Next, toss through the chopped onion, garlic, sage leaves, rosemary, salt, pepper and chilli.
Finally pour the melted butter over the tomatoes and bake in the oven at 150 degrees celsius for an hour and a half.
Once cooked add to a saucepan with a litre of Love and Bones Broth. Or you can make a base broth that I mentioned how to make in Wilco’s dinner last week.
Once the chicken is cooked and the soup has simmered, remove rosemary stalks before passing it through a fine sieve. Alternatively you can blend it first if that makes it easier to pass through your sieve. We also sell this soup as our Red + Love and Bones Broth to make life extra easy!
Now you can add your chicken thigh. Finely poach a small pastured chicken thigh (skin removed) in the tomato broth until the chicken falls to pieces. This will take approximately 20 minutes with the lid on so the soup doesn’t evaporate. Pull it apart with two forks and portion into bowls.
For the basil oil
While the chicken is poaching it’s time to make your basil oil. Combine a couple of handfuls of washed basil leaves with a squeeze of lemon (to stop oxidisation) and your best olive oil to make a deep green oil for drizzling onto your soup at the end.
Blitz these ingredients in a small food processor or hand held one, or even a mortar and pestle. The result should be super green oil that is zingy and delicious.
For the croutons
Cut up some day old bread into cubes (we personally like an Iggy’s bagel). Melt 50g of butter in a small pot, season it with salt, pepper and a tiny pinch of chilli.
Mix the bread around in the melted butter and then fry until golden in a small skillet. Set aside, these are to be served with your soup.
To Serve
Simply ladle soup with chicken into bowls, put a little whole cream (or coconut cream) into your soup and stir slightly before drizzling the green oil into the bowl. Add the croutons as you wish – Jemima likes them with each mouthful.
Side of mixed veg
Clean the veg (I usually use either brussels sprouts or broccoli) in water with vinegar (as I always do) and roughly chop them around the same size – set aside.
Next, slice a small onion and a garlic clove and lightly sauté in a little butter. Throw in the brussel sprouts or broccoli and a small handful of fresh peas and sauté for a few minutes before adding a few spoonfuls of broth.
Pop a lid on for another couple of minutes so the broccoli just cooks through. Serve on the side with your tomato soup and croutons.
Michelle Schoeps’ Love and Bones Broth tomato soup with poached chicken and homemade croutons. Surface from Bonnie and Neil. Styling – Lucy Feagins. Styling assistant – Nat Turnbull. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files.
Michelle’s tomato medley after some oven roasting. The tomatoes are then added to her Love and Bones Broth to form the basis of this comforting tomato soup. Styling – Lucy Feagins. Styling assistant – Nat Turnbull. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files.
Michelle’s Red + Love Bones Broth. Styling – Lucy Feagins. Styling assistant – Nat Turnbull. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files.
Mixed tomatoes, herbs and garlic for Michelle Schoeps’ Love and Bones Broth tomato soup with poached chicken. Styling – Lucy Feagins. Styling assistant – Nat Turnbull. Photo – Eve Wilson for The Design Files.
