Cheese soup, popular in French cuisine, quickly and firmly settled in prestigious restaurants and cafes in the CIS open spaces for a long time.
At the beginning of its distribution in the post-Soviet space, approximately in the second half of the last century, in almost every institution, French cheese soup with chicken served in cocottes, proudly and without constraint, was positioned as a specialty dish developed at this company, personally by the chef.
Of course, in part, such arrogance can be recognized as true, but this is only partly.
The fact is that according to the general concept of catering enterprises, all without exception, the technology of any dish is developed in accordance with the financial and technical capabilities of each individual enterprise, and the process engineer and / or the chef directs this process. What principles are they guided in drawing up the recipes of each dish - a minor question, if not talking about quality, but the right to invent melted cheese soup, to a greater degree belongs not even to the French, but to Swiss cooks, because it was in Switzerland at the beginning of the twentieth century Melted cheese was invented: in any case, the patent right for the invention of cheese belongs to Switzerland.
The technology of making cheese soup is found in many national cuisines of the world, in various interpretations.
It has long been known that French chefs are famous for the fact that from any dish, own or borrowed, they know how to create a sensation in the world of cooking. It is thanks to the French elegance, sophistication and pathos of the soup with melted cheese and chicken, after a short stay on the menu of “serious” catering establishments, organically fit into the ration of home cooking and soon became a familiar and simple meal, which made restaurant professionals to at least look for and promote new culinary brands to raise prestige and box office in their establishments.
Soup with melted cheese and chicken - the basic technological principles
The best basis for soup with melted cheese, of course, is chicken broth, which is considered the basis of dietary dishes, although cheese is a high-calorie product, and this category of soups cannot be attributed to dietary, in terms of their energy richness. But it is the lightness of chicken broth and poultry in combination with a very nourishing and dairy product that is the “highlight” of the dish, which has found many of its admirers among gourmets.
No more additions are needed for a chicken and cheese base: well, except for the light “portrait touches” that highlight this perfect combination of ingredients.
Therefore, only two principles should be singled out among the basic principles of making cheese soup: cooking broth and introducing curd into a liquid base for soup. If every housewife faced cooking classics - cooking meat broth - at least once in their life, the second basic principle - the connection of processed cheese with hot liquid - is not familiar to everyone or, at least, is at the development stage.
Any cheese tends to melt under the influence of a temperature close to boiling water or broth. That is, milk proteins, changing their structure, coagulate into a dense clot, resembling rubber in consistency. But this can happen if you drop a whole piece of cheese in boiling water, and then the product can be hopelessly spoiled. To save the soup can only be a new portion of cheese. If the cheese is crushed and heated gradually, with continuous and intensive stirring, the milk proteins will have time to connect with the molecules of water and air, before their preheating temperature reaches a critical point, and the result is a thick homogeneous mass that is liquid enough so that it can be enter into the main part of the broth and evenly dissolve in it. Cheese dressing on milk and even on beer is prepared according to the same principle, if there is such a need. Therefore, the most difficult moment of cooking cheese soup should be given special attention, taking up separately brewing cheese dressing, which is then added gradually to the total mass.
After all the main points of cooking cheese soup are observed, all that remains is to supplement the dish by mood: chicken meat or sausages, legumes or hard cereals, corn, nuts, sliced vegetables — everything that culinary ingenuity tells. After all, it is thanks to her that humanity can today enjoy the world variety of dishes.
Recipe 1. Soup with melted cheese and “Marble” chicken
Ingredients:
Cheese paste 200 g
Boiled chicken fillet 300 g
Cream, fat (or sour cream of 25%) 150 ml
Onion 50g
Carrots 100 g
Fat
Greenery
Chicken broth 600 ml
Spice
Cooking:
Chop onions and carrots and sprinkle them in a skillet, first lightly browned in cooking oil, and then add a small amount of broth, spices. Smash the mass with a blender, pour the heated cream into it and let it boil. Temporarily set aside.
Smash chicken meat with a blender, also adding broth and seasoning it with salt and pepper.
Take another small part of the broth and, heating it up to 50-60ºC, pour a very thin stream into the melted cheese, at the same time stirring the mass with quick movements using a whisk.
Combine the meat puree with the cheese mass, mix and bring the mixture to a boil. If necessary, add broth if the soup is too thick.
When serving, pour the cheese soup into the plates, add the carrot-and-cream dressing to the center of the plate and with a stick or fork make several circular movements so that a marble pattern is formed from the two thick masses. In the center of the plate, put the leaves of fresh greens.
Recipe 2. Mushroom soup with melted cheese and chicken
Ingredients:
Fried mushrooms 150 g (net)
Chicken Breast 400 g
Seasoned onions 100 g
Cheese, processed (smoked) 300 g Spice
Broth 1.5 l
Parsley, chopped 50 g
Table margarine 75 g
Cooking:
For the soup, use any tubular mushrooms: champignons, white mushrooms, chanterelles and others, previously boiled and fried with onions on margarine. It is advisable to chop the mushrooms and chicken breast equally, in shape and size. The pulp of boiled chicken is also cut and fry in margarine.
Cheese lightly freeze, so that it can be finely grated. Dissolve the cheese crumb, warming up in a small part of the ready chicken broth, then pour the resulting cheese dressing into the bulk, add the mushrooms and meat, boil, stirring. Serve with chopped parsley, sprinkling on each serving. If desired, use sour cream.
Recipe 3. Cream Cheese Soup and Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients:
Minced meat, chicken 800 g
Onions 200g
Pepper, ground
Dill, fresh 100 g
Broth 2 l
Egg 1 pc.
Cheese 600 g
Cooking:
Prepare meatballs from chicken meat by adding onion, salt, egg and spices. The minced meat must be crushed twice and knocked out so that the mass is homogeneous and airy. Cooked meatballs in broth, seasoning it with spices.
Prepare the cheese dressing, as described above, and put it in the soup. Bring to a boil, let it brew. Serve garnished with chopped dill.
Recipe 4. Cream cheese and chicken with Hawaiian mix
Ingredients:
Frozen vegetable mixture “Hawaiian” 300 g
Boiled chicken fillet 0.5 kg
Broth, ready 2,2 l
Cheese 400 g
Greenery
Cooking:
Preparation of this soup will take no more than ten minutes, if there are all the named ingredients in a prepared form.
Grate the cheese and heat it in 400-500 ml of broth until it melts and thickens. Add the rest of the liquid, throw chopped meat and frozen vegetables with rice into the pan. Turn the soup to a boil and turn it off. When serving, decorate the plates with fresh chopped greens.
Recipe 5. Egg soup with melted cheese and chicken
Ingredients:
Eggs 4 pcs.
Milk (or cream) 250 ml
Green onions
Broth (chicken or mushroom) 1.7 l
Meat (fillet, chicken) 300 g
Champignons 500g
Garlic 20g
Butter, melted 50 g
Parsley roots 30 g
Cream cheese 3x100 g
Ground pepper
Cooking:
Prepare a cheese dressing for the soup. Heat the oil and add the chopped parsley roots and garlic to the pan. Fry the boiled flesh, cutting it into plates. Also fry the champignon plates.
Beat the eggs into a fluffy mass, which is mixed with milk. Salt it.
Prepared meat and mushrooms, together with a thick cheese mass, combine with the main part of the broth and boil until boiling. While stirring the soup, pour the eggs, whipped with milk, without stopping stirring until the infused protein strands form. Throw chopped green onions.
Serve with croutons or croutons.
Soup with melted cheese and chicken - tricks and tips
- Cheese soups, unlike other types, after cooling and reheating acquire a richer taste.
- Thick cheese soup should be cooked on low heat so that it does not burn.
- The cheese is easier than other cheeses in the broth, forming an air emulsion. This cheese is most often used in Slovak and Czech cuisine. True, the first dishes in these national cuisines are often fried in lard. But, if you want, you can experiment with poultry meat.
