No, this is not about incontinent roosters. 

It is a very simple Scottish soup with minimal ingredients. In fact, it is the national soup of Scotland. (This has me wondering: what are the national soups of other countries?)

And, true to its eponymous name, it is made with chicken and leeks . . . and a surprising and awesome addition of prunes.  That’s right: you heard prunes.  While some recipes put the prunes in the broth with the bird and strain them out later, I added mine along with the leeks later.  I then smashed them with my spoon when I was feasting on this soup.  I really liked the little blobs of prune, and mostly they dissolved into the soup to give it a rich and faintly sweet taste.

I adapted this recipe from several I researched online. It will make 4-5 servings as a soup course or hearty lunch.  If you have large appetites, I’d recommend serving this with a nice scone, fresh butter, honey, and an arugula/strawberry salad.  We were completely satisfied with this all by itself, and we had leftovers. 

Of note, I used our homegrown American Bresse chicken in this recipe.  The Bresse is renowned for its flavor and excellent schmaltz.  While not raised on milk and finished with corn (as is done in Bresse, France), this little bird was a complete flavor bomb.

We also had additional broth, chicken bones and leftover veggies, which I sent back into the Instant Pot for another round of awesome broth along with my collection of odd veggies stored in the freezer.  For more about broth, see Broth Importantly and the other related posts about broth

This may seem complicated at first, it really is a very simple and satisfying dish.

Serves 4

Ingredients

For poaching chicken and making broth:

• 1 whole chicken (approximately 2-3 lbs), quartered (include the back for taste)
• Enough water to cover the chicken in your Instant Pot (probably 6-8 cups depending upon the size of your chicken)
• 3 allspice berries
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 star anise
• 5 cloves of garlic (no need to peel)
• 1 T kosher salt (use 1 ½ t if using the small table salt)
• 1 large sprig of fresh rosemary (or 1 t dried)
• 3 carrots, cut into large chunks (2 C)
• 4 celery stalks, cut into large chunks (1 C)
• 1 medium onion, quartered (1 C)

 For composing the main soup:

• 2 large leeks, cleaned and chopped (4 C)
• 6-7 C strained broth from the operation above
• 3-4 C shredded chicken from the operation above
• 8 prunes
• 3 handfuls of rice—about 1/2 C to 2/3 C (uncooked)—basmati is good

Method

• Poach chicken in enough water to cover along with all the poaching ingredients.  Depending upon your chicken and your pot and your cooking method, this will vary.  I used an Instant Pot on high for 30 minutes, and it was perfect.  You can also do this on your stove in a covered pot for approximately 1-2 hours.  Just keep checking to see if the chicken is fork-able. 
• Meanwhile, chop and clean your leeks and set aside.
• When your chicken is ready, remove from pot and let cool enough to be able to debone and shred it.  Remove the skin. Set it aside.
• Strain the broth to reserve, but don’t forget to keep all those great aromatics and veg for a future broth adventure.
• Put 6-7 C of the broth into a pot and add the prunes, HALF the leeks, and the rice.  Simmer for 15 minutes until the rice is tender.
• Then add the remaining leeks.  Simmer for 5 minutes.
• Portion the shredded chicken into bowls.  Don’t worry if the chicken is cool, as your broth will be piping hot and warm it up.
• Ladle the broth and leeks over the shredded chicken and ensure that everyone gets a prune.
• Encourage your guests to smash the prune into the dish to extract the most lovely flavor.

Other

• You will have leftover broth, and you can freeze it or begin another batch.

Stay briny,

–Stacey