Almond Soup Chilled - chicken

Method

• Simmer the almonds and stock together for 20 minutes.
• Squeeze them hard through a clean, unstarched linen towel.
• Heat the oil over a very low heat in a heavy-bottomed pan.
• Stir in the flour away from the heat.
• Gradually add the strained almond stock and bring to the boil, stirring continuously to avoid lumping.
• Season lightly with salt and pepper and cook for a further 10 minutes over a low heat.
• Strain again through a fine sieve and put aside to cool in a bowl.
• Cover with an oiled paper cut to fit the surface area of the soup.
• (If you use a buttered paper, the butter will harden when the soup is cold.)
• When cold, transfer to the refrigerator and chill well.
• Before serving, whip the cream until the whisk leaves an obvious tail which takes a few seconds to subside.
• Fold the cream into the soup.
• Garnish with a sprinkling of fresh flaked almonds.
• An alternative and equally good way of making this soup is to put the stock and almonds through the blender.
• This will give you a slightly thicker soup than the original recipe, so have a little more clear chicken stock chilled and at the ready to thin it down if you so wish.
• The finished soup should well coat the back of a dessert-spoon-not a wooden spoon, as liquid clings too readily to the wood and is not a good indication of consistency.