Chicken in a pot and spicy meatballs - MSO Video

When I need to feed all five of us the same dinner chicken soup is about the only thing I know everybody will happily eat. And when I've run out in the freezer the next best thing is my chicken in a pot.
Super nourishing, so versatile and dead simple. The leftover chicken can be used in sandwiches the next day or for a chicken salad. My kids like their soup served plain with chicken rice and fresh peas or with tiny chicken meatballs. Made differently for the fussy and not so fussy.


Chicken in a pot 

Ingredients
1 pastured organic chicken (if making the chicken balls remove the breasts)
1 small onion or 1 leek
1 head of garlic
small bunch of parsley
a bay leaf
a couple of carrots peeled and halved
half a cob of corn
1 capsicum
splash apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
water
olive oil when serving

Roughly chop your veg and stick them and your chicken in a pot, cover with water and then the lid and into an oven at somewhere between 120c - 150c for 3-4 hours. The lower the temp the longer i cook. Sometimes I'll put it in just before bed and leave it on 90c overnight till I wake in the morning.
Serve the clear soup with the falling apart chicken, any veg you can salvage from the soup and a sprinkling of freshly podded raw peas (when in season) and a drizzle of best extra virgin olive oil.


Chicken in a pot and spicy chicken meatballs from michelle Schoeps on Vimeo.


for something different I make the most basic chicken meatballs
my small fussy kids like them like this....

kids chicken meatballs
Ingredients:
1 chicken breast
1 egg
a handful of parsley
1 garlic clove
half a cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
little bit of salt and pepper

And for the teenagers and adults, like this....
Spicy chicken meatballs (adult version)
1 chicken breast
1 egg
a handful of coriander stalks and all
a garlic clove
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of sweet paprika
and chopped chilli as much or as little as you like - remembering the longer the chilli the milder the chilli
a good pinch of salt

Simply bring your clear soup to a boil and plop the teaspoonfuls of chicken mixture into the bubbling soup and in a minute or two they will rise to the top and ready to eat.
The mixture makes a lot, so depending on how many you're feeding you might want to freeze some of the uncooked mixture for the next time you defrost a soup.

Of course there's a thousand other things you can make with a stock, these are the two we eat most frequently with ours. And really I couldn't think of anything better to nourish our bellies.

Use the best ingredients you can afford. Try and only buy organic, local, ethically treated, pasture fed produce. Most importantly buy in season, that way you will get maximum flavour and goodness for a lesser cost.
Th choices we make for the most precious people in our lives now, will benefit their health in the future!

Michelle Schoeps Organic video's could only be made with a very generous team of people who find time in their busy lives and careers to help me out. Joshua Heath, Max Doyle, Megan Morton, Claire Evans, Sophie The, Jack Grayson, Songs, Madeleine Pacheco, Mazzy and my three little bears - Jemima, Frank and Wilco.
Soundtrack for MSO Video's by Songs - Boy/ Girl 

©Michelle Schoeps 2014

All recipes and photos by Michelle Schoeps