Title: Chicken soup w/ apples & leeks
 Categories: Soups
      Yield: 6 Servings
 
      1    Chicken, quartered
           Salt & Pepper, to taste
      2 tb Butter
      3    Leeks, w/ 1" green, sliced
      2    Granny Smith apples, peeled
      1 c  Apple juice
    1/2 c  Vinegar
      3 c  Chicken stock
      3 tb Calvados
    1/2 c  Heavy cream
 
  Season the chicken with salt and pepper.  Melt the butter over medium
  heat in a saute pan just large enough to hold the chicken. Add the
  chicken, skin side down, and cook for about eight minutes over medium
  heat. If the butter in the pan starts to brown, lower the heat
  slightly. Turn the chicken and light saute in the same way for five
  minutes more.
  
  Remove the chicken from the pan and place it in a bowl. If the butter
  in the saute pan has burned, pour it out and replace it with two
  tablespoons fresh butter. Add the leeks and cook them for 10 minutes
  over medium heat. Stir the leeks every couple of minutes. They should
  be soft but not brown.
  
  Put the chicken back in the pan with the leeks.  Add the apples, apple
  juice, vinegar and broth.  Bring the liquids to a slow simmer and
  with a ladle skim off any fat or froth that floats to the top. Cover
  the pot and simmer the chicken very gently for 10 to 15 minutes,
  until it is completely cooked.
  
  Remove the chicken and let it cool.  Remove and discard the skin and
  pull the meat away from the bones. Cut the meat into half inch chunks.
  
  Use a ladle to skim off any fat that has formed on the surface of the
  liquid in a saute pan.  Add the Calvados and the heavy cream. Bring
  to a simmer and season to taste with salt and pepper. Heat the chunks
  of chicken in the soup for two minutes and serve immediately in hot
  bowls.
  
  Suggestions and variations:  Try adding a cup of sliced mushrooms
  along with the apples.  The mushroom flavor goes well with the other
  ingredients, and the mushrooms make the soup more substantial. This
  soup is also delicious with curry, which can be added by gently
  cooking a tablespoon of curry powder in a tablespoon of butter and
  stirring it into the soup shortly before serving.