Ree Drummond’s Mulligatawny Soup

I follow many food blogs.  Reading all of them is what made me want to start my own!  I was astounded how many exist!  But, the best food blog I have ever come across belongs to Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman.  She also has a show on The Food Network.  I love her.  I haven’t come across many recipes of hers that I haven’t liked, and there is never really much about them that I need to change.

I watched The Food Network episode where Ree was making this soup for her BFF.  While it was easy, I’ll be honest, it didn’t seem all that appetizing to me, at the time.  Until one afternoon, I was wracking my brain, trying to think about what to make for dinner, without having to make a trip to the grocery store, and I thought of this soup.  I had all of the ingredients, so I decided to give it a try!  I was so glad I did!  It’s surprisingly delicious.  The longer you let it sit, the better it gets, so keep that in mind!  Here’s what happened…

The original recipe calls for one whole boneless, skinless chicken breast.  If you’ve ever bought your chicken from a butcher, you will know that a whole breast actually looks like two breasts connected to each other.  So, in reality what you buy at the store is actually half a breast.  In this case, use the whole breast, or 2 halves, also known as, 2 chicken breasts.  Confused yet?

Season your chicken pieces with salt and pepper and cook them in a dutch oven over medium high heat with 2 tablespoons of butter. Don’t stir the chicken too much, as you want it to caramelize and form those brown bits on the bottom that you can see in the picture. Once the chicken is cooked through, remove the pieces to a plate and set aside.

This picture looks pretty unappetizing, doesn’t it?  It gets worse before it gets better, but trust me!  The end result is worth it.  Once you’ve removed your chicken, add 2 more tablespoons of butter and saute your onions and garlic, lifting up all those little brown bits left behind from the chicken.

A little tip to get that pesky skin off of the garlic is to smash your garlic cloves with the flat side of a knife.  Just sit the knife over the clove, form a fist and hit the knife with the underside of your fist.

In this picture, I’ve already added the flour and incorporated it into the onions.  I was pretty liberal with the amount of curry I used.  It’s easily a heaping tablespoon of curry that I add.

I told you the pictures would get worse before they get better!  There is nothing burnt on the bottom of my pan.  This is all flavor.  You want to incorporate all of that yummy curry into your onion mixture before adding your broth.

As you add your broth, begin by adding only a little, so that you can see and lift all of the goodness that is stuck to the bottom of the pan.  Once all the broth is added, let it cook for about 5 minutes before adding the half-and-half.

My one and only deviation from Ree’s recipe, if I can even claim it as such, is that I let my half-and-half come to room temperature before I added it to the broth.  I’ve made this soup many times, and when I put cold cream into hot broth, guess what happens?  It separates.  Still tastes great, but doesn’t look as pretty. Letting your cream come to room temperature will give your soup a nice creamy, even texture.  Add your tablespoon of sugar at this point.  Allow your cream to settle into the broth for about 5 minutes on medium heat before adding your chicken back into the pot, along with the apples.

Your apple pieces should be similar in size to your chicken pieces.

This doesn’t look very good, does it?  I know!  Give the flavors some time to marry.  Adjust your seasoning.  You will find it needs quite a bit of salt at this stage.

End result is this!  It’s creamy, earthy, with a hint of sweet.  Yummy!  Even my 3 year old loves this soup!  Adding cilantro when ready to serve is not only a must for flavor, but as you can see, it adds a lot of visual appeal.  Serve this soup with Naan bread for dipping.  Try this soup.  I promise you will be pleasantly surprised!!

Here’s what you need to do….

Ree Drummond’s Mulligatawny Soup

1 whole boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into pieces, seasoned with salt and pepper

4 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, diced finely

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 cup flour

1 tablespoon curry powder

32 oz, or 4 cups, of low-sodium chicken broth

2 cups half-and-half, brought to room temperature

1 granny smith apple, peeled and diced

1 tablespoon sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Brown your chicken over medium high heat with 2 tablespoons of butter until chicken pieces are cooked through.  Remove chicken from the pan, reduce your heat to medium and add your onions with another 2 tablespoons of butter.  Add your minced garlic and cook until onions are transparent.  Add your flour and incorporate into the onions.  Add your curry powder and do the same.  Pour your chicken broth over the onion mixture and let cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Next, add your cream and sugar and continue cooking another 5 minutes.  Return the chicken to the pot along with the apple pieces and adjust your seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer on low for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!!

(Source: https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/12/easy-mulligatawny/)