BROCCOLI & CHICKEN SOUP

We have a nice smoky chicken breast from our trial of ‘Emeril’s Smoker Bag’. It just seemed right to make a soup. We looked in the ice cave and found some broccoli, cheddar and some pancetta. As you may know, I am a bacon kind of guy. Pancetta is a form of bacon that has been cured but not smoked. This piece of pancetta was procured from the pork palace of ‘The Fatted Calf”. This will work just fine.

The pancetta was cubed and put into a heavy enameled cast iron vessel. The heat started a transformation of the cured swine to aromatic, caramelized bits of meat pleasure. The whole house had a perfume that almost brought me to tears. Pancetta, where have you been? The smell was much sweeter and less harsh than ordinary bacon aroma. Onions, carrots and a few cloves of garlic were added to my pot of Love. After several minutes a couple of tablespoons of flour were added. Chicken stock followed into the hot tub and all was simmered for 10 minutes.

I think Ms. Goofy must have had a little taste of the smoked chicken breast. This will explain the teeth marks. The chicken was cubed and combined with cheese, two chopped smoked jalapenos, and broccoli. One half of cup of heavy cream, final seasoning and 10 minutes of simmering finished this wonderful smelling cauldron of soup. Delicious, comforting, smoky, filling what more can I say except, pancetta. Little cubes of chewy sweet pork made this one memorable soup.