soup from these leftovers...

Curry_Queen

I'm just sitting down to scoff a bowl of soup I made today, using chicken stock and bit's of left-over chicken from a carcass we had earlier in the week, and added a leek, a few spuds and bit of swede sitting in the fridge. The only seasoning I added was salt & pepper and instead of cornflour I used my stick blender to puree some of it to thicken but leaving some chunky bits too. Potato is an excellent thickening agent because it's high in starch

BTW, it's yummy ... and I'm off to get seconds

Queenie

tiff wrote:

Queenie, what is the difference between cornflour and ordinary plain flour? I use plain flour to thicken things.

Good question!

Cornflour: this is a purified, fine, powdery starch made from maize. It contains *no* gluten or wheat. Cornflower is primarily a thickening agent but some recipes do ask for a measure of cornflour *and* plain/SR flour. In the US cornflour is referred to as cornstarch (far more accurate, don't you think?)
It is flavourless.

Flour: (plain/SF/Strong) Comes from grain and contains gluten (gluten is the substance which acts like a chewing gum to "stick" things together). That is why in recipes such as bread and Yorkshire pud you have to allow time for it to "rest" so that the gluten in the flour can relax.

When you mix flour and water it will thicken immediately (anyone remember flour and water glue?) However, if you mix cornflour and water, all you will get is a thin white looking water! Until you add it to your cooking and heat it, then it will react with the heat and thicken up.

Obviously you can use flour and water to thicken soups, stews, casseroles. But the gluten in the flour needs "cooking" (ie when you make a roux) whereas cornflour is tasteless and doesn't require cooking as such, merely heating!

Does that make sense?