Curry Chicken and Mushroom Stoup

Ingredients

4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 fresh bay leaf
3 onions, 1 quartered, 2 quartered and thinly sliced
1/4 cup EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 portabella mushrooms, gills scraped, halved then thinly sliced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into 2-inch matchsticks
2 to 3 ribs celery, thinly sliced on an angle
1 2-inch piece ginger, peeled then grated or minced
3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt and pepper

3 tablespoons mild or medium curry powder
1 quart chicken stock
1 cup mango chutney
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
4 scallions, whites and greens thinly sliced
2 cups cooked white rice or 4 pieces naan bread, warmed

Yields: Serves 4

Preparation

Place chicken in small pan and add enough water to come to top of chicken without completely submerging it. Add bay leaf and quartered onion to the pan. Bring to a boil and simmer chicken 10-12 minutes, until cooked through. Shred chicken with 2 forks and reserve. Strain liquid and reserve 1 1/2 to 2 cups.

Place EVOO in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and brown 10-12 minutes. Add carrots, celery, sliced onion, ginger and garlic to mushrooms and cook 5 minutes more, to soften. Season with salt, pepper and curry powder. Add stock and reserved poaching liquid to pan. Add in reserved chicken and stir in the chutney. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.

Melt butter in the skillet you cooked chicken in. Whisk in flour and cook 1 minute. Whisk roux into soup pot, let simmer and thicken, 5 minutes.

Serve stoup topped with scallions with the cooked rice stirred into each portion or with naan for dipping alongside.