Adelaide chef Chris Stephan is an energetic communicator on all things gastronomic – her forte is presenting seemingly complicated ideas in an easy, straight forward and entertaining manner.
Local produce and recipe development for the home cook as her specific target audience is her passion, understanding all the pressures of cooking at home but also the joy of entertaining family and friends.
Chris Stephan. Photo: supplied
Stephan has been engaged by the Adelaide Central Market to create recipes inspired by seasonal local produce. Here she shares her recipe for Nona’s lemon, chicken and yoghurt soup.
“Nona is a not really my Nona, but a dearly loved European lady we adopted as our ‘Nona’ many years ago,” explains Stephan.
“I was always intrigued by her cooking and flavours. This recipe is in honour of her original lemon and yoghurt soup.”
Nona’s lemon, chicken and yoghurt soup
Ingredients
4 to 6 large chicken wings
6 cups water
salt
½ cup brown rice
½ cup Puy lentils
1 medium onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1½ cups natural yoghurt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
juice of 1 lemon
1½ tbsp flour mixed with 2 tbsp cold water
80 g butter
¼ tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp dried chilli flakes
Zest of 2 lemons, finely grated
2 spring onions, finely sliced, to garnish
handful fresh mint, parsley and dill leaves, finely chopped, to garnish
One poached egg per serve, optional
Method
Place the chicken wings in a large saucepan, add water and salt, bring to boil and then reduce heat to simmer for 25 minutes.
Use a slotted spoon to remove the cooked wings, when cool remove the meat and set aside.
Cook rice in a saucepan of simmering water for 5 minutes, add lentils and cook until both rice and lentils are tender, approximately 10-12 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Place stock, onion and garlic in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a simmer.
Whisk yoghurt, egg and lemon juice in a bowl until smooth, add flour mixture and a little hot stock and whisk to combine.
Reduce the heat to very low; pour the yoghurt mixture into the hot stock and whisk for 1 minute. Do not boil, as the soup will split. Season to taste.
Melt butter in a small pan over medium heat, add smoked paprika, chilli flakes and lemon zest, cook until golden. Season to taste.
To serve, divide lentils and rice among bowls, scatter with shredded chicken and top with yoghurt soup, spoon butter mixture over and serve scattered with fresh herbs and spring onions.
Top with a poached egg if desired.
Serves 6 to 8
