Meme's Chicken & Dumplings

The finished product

This is a total comfort food for me. Whenever I would visit my grandma (Meme), she would have a pot of chicken and dumplings on the stove for me. And, whenever I was sick, this is what my mom would make for me. The dumplings are a little easier to make because they are drop dumplings (requires no dough rolling like the Art Smith ones). Try out both recipes and let me know which ones you like best!

Stock:

• one 3 to 3.5 lb chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 4 carrots, sliced into rounds (I like carrots in my soup)
• 2 1/2 quarts water
• 2 - 3 bay leaves 
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Dumplings:

• 2 cups of flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 beaten eggs
• milk to moisten the dough (I estimate we used about 3/4 - 1 cup of milk; will all depend on how dry your flour is)

Saute onion, celery and carrots in dutch oven until softened. Add chicken, water 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp pepper. Bring to boil over high heat, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface. Reduce heat to low and cover tightly. Simmer, occasionally skimming broth, until chicken is tender, about 50 minutes.

Using tongs, transfer chicken to platter (keep the broth and veg simmering) and allow chicken to cool until it's easy to handle. Discard skin and bones and cut meat into bite sized pieces.

Increase the heat of the stock and vegetables until it reaches a boil. Mix the ingredients together for the dumplings. The dough will be moist and think. Use two spoons to drop the dumplings into the stock mixture, making the dumplings about the size of a tablespoon (they will get larger in the broth). Cook for 20 minutes with the pot half covered. Stir the chicken back into the pot, add fresh parsley and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Then, enjoy!

My Meme's Chicken & Dumplings

I'm either a 3rd or 4th generation chicken & dumpling maker. This is what my Meme's dumplings would look like (they are drop dumplings instead of rolled).

Dumplings are cooking! 

I'm using the same stock recipe as the Art Smith one I posted earlier and will post the dumpling recipe later.

I feel like I have my mom and Meme in the kitchen with me. It smells so wonderful! Can't wait to eat! Bon Appetit to Aliza, Katie and I!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Cream of Tomato Soup

Tomato soup is one of my favorite soups.  It's so comforting in the winter with a nice crusty grilled cheese sandwich. Here's one of my favorite recipes.  It will be hard to go back to the canned soup after you make this.

Adapted from The New Best Recipe Cookbook (Cook's Illustrated)

2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes (Muir Glen Fire Roasted are my favorite)
1 1/2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large shallots, minced (or 1 medium-large onion diced)
3 garlic cloves minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Pinch of allspice
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
3/4 2% milk (original recipe calls for 1/2 cup heavy cream)
Salt & Pepper to taste

1. In large saucepan over medium heat melt butter.  Add shallots/onions and cook until they become opaque in color then add minced garlic and let cook until you can smell the garlic (~30 seconds).  Add flour and tomato paste and cook for another 30-45 seconds.
2. Add canned tomatoes (including juice), broth, brown sugar, allspice, salt and pepper.  Cover the pot and increase the heat to medium and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally for 20-30 minutes.  
3. Remove from heat and using an immersion blender (a food processor or regular blender would work too), blend 3/4 of the soup until smooth, leaving some tomato chunks.  Add the milk (or heavy cream) and stir.  Taste to make sure seasonings are right.  
4. Serve immediately or freeze for a later date (I usually freeze in individual containers for lunches) but be sure NOT to boil when reheating.

Not my mamma's chicken 'n dumplings

Growing up whenever I was sick, my mom would make me chicken and dumplings.  As an adult, I would even make this for myself when I was feeling under the weather.  I was accustomed to doing a free form  drop dumpling recipe, until I was introduced to Art Smith's chicken and dumplings recipe. I think I am now a convert....

Stock:

one 3 to 3.5 lb chicken, cut into 8 pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
2 carrots, sliced into rounds
2 quarts water

2 - 3 bay leavessalt and freshly ground black pepper

Dumplings:
1.5 cups all purpose flour
pinch of salt
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon water
1 Tbsp canola oil
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Saute onion, celery and carrots in dutch oven until softened. Add chicken, water, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper.  Bring to a boil over high heat, skimming off any foam that rises to surface.  Reduce heat to low and cover tightly.  Simmer, occasionally skimming broth, until chicken is tender, about 50 mins.

Using tongs, transfer chicken to a platter (keep broth and vegs simmering) and cool it until it's easy to handle.  Discard skin and bones and cut meat into bite size pieces.

Meanwhile, increase the heat under the broth to high and cook until liquid is reduced to 6 cups.  (if you're in a hurry, strain the broth, reserving the vegetables, and measure 6 cups of broth, reserving the remaining broth for another use.  Return the 6 cups of broth and vegetables to the pot.)  Skim off any fat from surface of broth.  Stir the chicken back into the pot.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To make the dumplings, place flour, salt and oil in medium bowl and gradually stir in water to make a stiff dough.  Turn out onto lightly floured surface and knead briefly.  Roll out 1/4 in thick.  Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1 in wide strips.  (If you wish, you can do what my mother does - make the dumpling strips while the chicken is simmering, and freeze the strips until ready to cook - Art Smith).

Slide the strips into the simmering soup, placing them next to each other without stacking or crowding.  Cover tightly and reduce heat to low.  Simmer until dumplings are cooked through and tender, about 10 mins.

Sprinkle the dumplings with parsley.  Serve from the pot, breaking up the dumplings as needed.

Hearty Lentil Soup

You'll probably notice that I'll be posting a bunch of soup recipes. In my mind, it's soup season -- the perfect time of year to have a pot of soup on the stove over the weekend. If I'm ambitious, I'll make two soup recipes in a weekend so I can have some variation through the week. Soup is pretty easy to make and usually healthy -- so win, win.

This is one of my favorite soups right now. It does not require a lot of babysitting and can be made in less than an hour. Perfect for me to make a batch and pack it up for lunch at work.

From: The Best New Recipe Cookbook

Ingredients:

3 slides of bacon (organic, preferred), cut into 1/4 in pieces

1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped

2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into medium pieces

3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed

1 can diced tomatoes, drained

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon fresh thyme (I used 1/4 tsp. dried thyme)

1 cup lentils, rinsed and picked over

1 teaspoon salt

ground black pepper

1/2 cup dry white wine

4 1/2 cups low-sodium organic chicken broth

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves

1. Fry the bacon in a large stockpot over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until the fat is rendered and the bacon is crispy (3-4 minutes). Add the onion & carrots, cook stirring occasionally until the vegetables have softened (2 minutes). Add the garlic until fragrant (30 seconds). Stir in the tomatoes, bay leaf, and thyme and cook until fragrant (30 seconds). Stir in the lentils, salt, pepper to taste; cover, reduce the head to medium low and cook until the vegetables are softened and the lentils have darkened (roughly 8 - 10 minutes)

2. Uncover, increase the heat to high and add the wine, bringing it to a simmer. Add the chicken broth and water and bring to a boil. Cover partially and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the lentils are tender but still hold their shape 30 to 35 minutes, discard the bay leaf.

3. Use an immersion blender to make the soup a little smooth (it does not all have to be blended). Or puree 3 cups of soup in a blender until smooth and return to the pot. Stir in the balsamic vinegar and heat the soup to medium-low heat until hot, about 5 minutes. Stir in parsley to serve.