Smoked Chicken, Broccoli and Black Bean Soup

This recipe is an attempt at replicating a soup-of-perfection from one of our favorite restaurants, George’s at the Cove, in San Diego, California.  My mom and I made this soup together over Thanksgiving weekend and it’s not for the faint of heart.  You need serious time, patience, someone to laugh with and a bottle of Chardonnay before you even think of attempting this recipe.  Too much choppin’ for one person…

My dear ol’ dad smoked us some chickens in his Old Smokey smoker cooker, which made the soup extra delish.  You could smoke chicken breasts on a covered grill if you don’t have a smoker cooker – seen below.

Luckily my mom shopped for the ingredients!!  Wowee…

Smoked Chicken, Broccoli, Black Bean Soup Ingredients (Serves 4)
¼ cup unsalted butter
½ cup diced carrots
½ cup diced onions
½ cup diced celery
1 cup of broccoli stems diced (you use the tops too…so don’t toss ‘em)
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried sweet basil
¼ cup dry white wine
4 cups chicken stock (hot or room temp)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon Tabasco
1 cup smoked chicken cut in cubed chunks (recipe below)
1 tablespoon of Liquid Smoke
1 cup black beans
1 cup broccoli florets (tops)
2 cups heavy cream
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in warm water (put water in bowl first then add corn starch – you might need more in the soup depending on how it thickens)

Liquid Smoke - Key Ingredient!

1. In ¼ cup butter, sauté carrots, onion, celery and broccoli stems for 5 minutes
2. Add thyme, oregano and basil; sauté 5 minutes more
3. Add wine and deglaze pan
4. Add chicken stock and simmer about 15 minutes or until it has reduced by one-third (this is the part where you need your cooking buddy and some wine…ours didn’t necessarily get one-third less – well, the wine did, but the soup didn’t…)
5. Add Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, Liquid Smoke, smoked chicken, beans and broccoli florets and simmer 5 minutes (Liquid Smoke is the KEY!!  What a fabulous invention.)
6. Add cream, simmer 5 minutes more and season to taste
7. Thicken with cornstarch (we had to do this a couple of times because it just wouldn’t thicken up!  I say start with the 2 tablespoons dissolved in about 4 tablespoons of water.  Add that to the soup, stir for about 5 minutes and if it’s still runny, do it again.  Ours did end up thickening when we let it cool down a bit – after about 3 rounds of cornstarch.)

Smoked Chicken on a Covered Grill
Pound out boneless, skinless chicken breasts to VERY thin.  On a covered grill, slightly smoke chicken, cooking to medium rare (about 30 minutes).  Do not let the grill get too hot and use smoking chips such as applewood.

Veggies and herbs cookin' up...

Delicious Ingredients...ready to eat!

After a labor-intense fun night in the kitchen, this was a major victory.  It was so creamy and delish with great layers of flavor – smokiness of the chicken and liquid smoke, earthiness of the thyme and oregano and sweetness of the carrots and basil.  It comes together perfectly once you get it to thicken up.

Good luck to you brave chefs out there!

Bowl of Smoked Chicken, Broccoli and Black Bean Soup

Zach-o-meter: He loves this soup at George’s and said we copied it almost “to the T”.  He was even stealing bites of cold soup the next day waiting on his to heat up…ha!  All in all, worth the effort.