He’s got it, and I’m about to get it. First, it was a cough and splutter, then a headache and a sneeze, then uncontrollable shivers and high temperatures.
Now he’s nothing but a pathetic invalid, moaning weakly, capable of rising from his sickbed only if there is cricket on the telly. He can’t eat, and, more unusually, can’t drink anything but water.
Golly, it must be serious. I had better move fast, before I, too, succumb. So I buy a good chook and cook it gently into a broth with carrots, leeks and celery, whipping off the breasts after the first 30 minutes so they don’t overcook. That gets strained, and it cools overnight so I can scoop the fat off the surface, leaving me with a golden, lightly jellied stock that quakes as I move it around the kitchen.
Then more carrots and celery and a parsnip or two are freshly cooked for the soup proper.
I don’t have any Jewish egg noodles so I take a few little nests of dried angelhair pasta and scrunch them in the palm of my hand over a pot of boiling water, cooking them into soft, golden strands.
He reckons that he has the strength to pick up a spoon.
I reheat the broth, adding the freshly cooked vegetables, noodles, shredded chicken breast, sea salt, pepper and parsley: big bowls, buttered toast on the side, perfect. It’s his first meal for two days.
Good; that means he’ll be well enough to look after me for the next two days.
Ingredients
Serves 4
Prep: 20 min
Cook: 60 min
1.6kg free-range chicken
2 litres cold water
3 carrots, peeled
2 leeks, trimmed
3 celery stalks
Salt and pepper
200g thin egg noodles, cooked
2tbsp flat parsley leaves
METHOD:
Rinse the chicken and place in a large pot. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil, skimming. Slice the carrots, leeks and celery and add half of them to the pot.
Simmer for 30 mins, then remove the breasts and set aside. Add salt and pepper and simmer for a further 30 mins.
Strain the broth, saving any decent chicken meat, but discarding bones and vegetables. Cook the remaining sliced vegetables for 10 mins in simmering salted water and drain. Shred the chicken breast and return to the broth with the freshly cooked vegetables and the noodles to heat through. Ladle the broth, chicken and vegetables into four warm soup bowls, and scatter with parsley leaves.