Serves 6
500g
brisket of beef
Fresh chicken stock or water
1 chicken, 1.3 kg - 1.8 kg
3 leeks, cleaned and sliced into 1/2" rounds
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
200g ready-to-eat prunes
Optional: 1 black or white truffle, or a little truffle
oil
A
very ancient dish which is surprisingly delicious and
beautiful. Apologies to the Scottish for the suggestion
of adding truffles at the end, but it is an elegant
way of quelling the sometimes overwhelming "leekiness"
of leeks.
Use stock made from the chicken carcass of a previous
meal for a heightened chicken flavour.
Put the beef into a large pan, cover with water or stock
and bring to the boil. Simmer for 1½ hours.
Add the whole chicken and simmer for another hour and
a half. By this time the chicken and the beef should
the tender.
Ten minutes before you serve, add the prunes.
Five minutes before you serve, add the leeks, so that
they remain freshly green.
Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.
Remove the beef from the pan, slice thinly and keep
warm.
Carve the chicken from the bone.
Serve in bowls with a slice of beef and some chicken
with the leek and prunes in their broth ladled over
the top.
Scatter a few shavings of truffle, or a few drops of
truffle oil, on to the soup.
Eat immediately with lots of good bread.
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