Chicken Broth with Asparagus and Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 1 bundle of soup vegetables (about 250 g) – carrots, leeks, onion, celery
• 1 whole chicken (approximately 1.2 kg)
• 2 Bay leaves
• 1 tbsp peppercorns
• salt to taste
• 250 g Mushrooms
• 500 g white asparagus
• 30 g Butter
• 20 g flour
• 150 ml Heavy Cream
• 40 ml dry white wine
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• pepper to taste
• freshly grated nutmeg
• lemon slices for garnish

Instructions

1. 1.

   Clean the soup vegetables and cut them into large pieces. Place the chicken with the vegetables, bay leaves, peppercorns, and 1 tsp salt in a pot; fill with enough cold water to cover everything. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently for about 1½ hours, skimming off any foam as needed.

2. 2.

   Clean the mushrooms and slice them thinly. Wash, peel, trim the woody ends of the asparagus, and cut into pieces about 3–4 cm long. Boil in salted water for approximately 20 minutes.

3. 3.

   Remove the chicken from the pot, separate the meat, and chop or shred it. Strain the broth through a sieve and reduce to ½ liter.

4. 4.

   In another pot melt the butter, sauté the mushrooms, sprinkle flour over them, and stir in the strained broth slowly. Bring to a boil, then add the cream, white wine, lemon juice, and parsley. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and garnish with lemon slices.