Chicken and asparagus broth

Serves 4

Chicken and asparagus broth will turn out crystal clear as long as you don't boil the hell out of it (Jason Lowe)

This is a nice clean broth that will turn out crystal clear as long as you don't boil the hell out of it. It's best to buy ready-skinned free-range chicken thighs for this rather than breasts as they have a much better flavour and withstand longer cooking to get maximum flavour into the broth.

4 free-range chicken thighs, skinned
1.5ltrs chicken stock
6 black peppercorns
1 medium onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 stick of celery, roughly chopped
1 small bayleaf
A couple of sprigs of thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
200-250g asparagus with the woody stems trimmed and reserved

Remove the bones from the chicken thighs and put them in a saucepan with the chicken meat and all of the other ingredients including the asparagus ends but not the asparagus itself.

Bring to the boil, skim, season and simmer very gently for 1 hour, skimming every so often. Strain the soup through a fine-meshed sieve into a clean pan.

Shred up the chicken thighs and put to one side. Cut the tips off the asparagus to about 3cm and cut in half lengthways if they are thick.

Slice the rest of the asparagus thinly on the angle and add to the soup with the tips.

Simmer for another 3-4 minutes, add the shredded thighs and season to taste. Serve immediately.