Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Happy Fall. Cook some soup.

First, for some fun pictures of the family time we had in California, check out Nellie's blog. We left our camera in California and so I don't have pictures to post. We had a great time.

Today happens to be uncommonly warm, heading to 88 degrees soon. So strange. I had already planned to make a favorite soup today and I would have changed the menu but Laine woke up so ill that my plans of going to the grocery store had to change. But, "this hearty recipe has its origins in thrift." These are ingredients that I most always have on hand and it always turns out delicious. I saw this made on Martha Stewart eons ago, pre-convict Martha, and I printed out the recipe. It is taken fromand I love it but I never cook it exactly as it says. It calls 3 pounds of chicken pieces, I always have chicken breasts but not just random chicken pieces. That's a funny image. And last time I made this recipe is I used a Sneaky Chef technique and I pureed the celery and onions then added them back to the broth. It made the broth look more like a cream soup and tasted delicious. And instead of dumplings, I just added egg noodles at the end. And looking the recipe over again, I never have cayenne around the house so that never goes in my pot, I don't have a dutch oven so I cook it in a regular big pot, and I usually don't add dried thyme. So saying all that, here's a yummy recipe that tastes delicious, even when modified beyond recognition. Happy fall!

Chicken and Dumplings
3 pounds chicken pieces (preferably breasts and thighs)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 dried bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
4 springs fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 tsp pepper
dash cayenne pepper
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk

1. Place chicken in a Dutch oven with onion, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, parsley, 2 tsps salt, pepper and cayenne. Add enough cold water to cover. Bring just to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until tender, about 1 hour.

2. Remove chicken, and let rest until cook enough to handle. Skin and bone chicken, leaving the meat in large chunks; set aside.

3. Remove bay leaves from the broth, and discard. Skim fat off surface of broth. Heat broth to a slow, steady boil. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in milk, and beat until stiff. Drop batter 1 tablespoon at a time into the boiling broth. Cover and cook for 10 minutes. Add reserved chicken, and cook until heated through, about 5 miutes. The dumplings should be puffed and the meat warmed through.

4 comments:

Shannon said...

Paige, this sounds amazing! We have been having ridiculously warm weather here, too. I can hardly wait to start eating soups and stews. I would probably just crank the ac (Kelly's suggestion) and make it anyway, by I don't think my kids would be too thrilled to eat soup after two hours of football/ soccer practice in the 80 degree sun. :)
I hope everyone is healthy at your house soon!

Tricia said...

YUM! I think I'll try this one when it cools down too. Pureeing the celery and onions is an excellent suggestion.

Kathi said...

Oh Paige, you are soo funny. Pre-convict Martha! I love it.

Ok~ So you and I are twins just miles apart, because I also have warm weather but just made a soup just like this. No dutch oven either. Just chicken and egg noodles plus the veggies. ( I did have the cut up chicken fryer pieces in my freezer in the garage, go figure!) I am certain you will have a glorious dinner tonight! Enjoy.
P.s. LOVED the pics of your family. Cant believe Lance is back from a mission. He was the little guy running around during High School right!? Amazing! Your mom is as pretty as ever. Hey, where was Lark?

Kathy said...

Sounds delicious! Can't wait to try it (with my own Liam/Caleb modifications, of course). :)