CHICKEN SOUP WITH APPLES & LEEKS

      Title: CHICKEN SOUP WITH APPLES & LEEKS
  Categories: Soups
       Yield: 6 Servings
  
       1    Chicken, quartered
            Salt & Pepper, to taste
       2 tb Butter
       3    Leeks, w/ 1" green, sliced
       2    Granny Smith apples, peeled
       1    Cup  Apple juice
     1/2    Cup  Vinegar
       3    Cup  Chicken stock
       3 tb Calvados
     1/2    Cup  Heavy cream
  
   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 to 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 tablespoon of curry powder in a tablespoon of butter and
   stirring it into the soup shortly before serving.
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