1557. CHICKEN, BEEF and BACON SOUP with SAFFRON

3 1/3 lb beef silverside
1 fat boiling fowl
1 1/2 lb gammon
1 salt
1 black pepper; freshly ground
4 carrots
4 leeks
2 small turnips
3 onions

Le Mourtayrol
1/2 teaspoon saffron
1 loaf french bread
2 tablespoon olive oil

Put the silverside, chicken and gammon into a large pot. Cover generously with water. Add a little salt, but not too much as the gammon is salty, and plenty of pepper. Bring slowly to the boil. Skim off the scum and add the whole vegetables. Reduce the heat, partly cover the pot and gently simmer, with just the occasional bubble bursting on the surface, for 4 hours. After 2 1/2 hours remove 1 pint of stock from the pot, add the saffron to it and leave it to infuse for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, cut the bread into slices, toast them lightly and arrange them in a stoneware pot or in a heavy casserole. Pour on the stock and saffron, cover the pot and cook gently for 1 hour either on top of the stove, using a heat diffuser, or in a moderately low oven. Stir occasionally so that the bread dissolves into a creamy yellow paste. If it becomes too dry, add a little more stock from the pot. Finally stir in the oil. Remove the meats and the vegetables from the soup to serve later as the main course. Strain the soup and ladle it into individual soup bowls. Add a large spoonful of the mourtayrol to each bowl and serve.


bacon recipe courtesy of: Buanzo's Recipe Website