Chicken and Dumplings

All of us have colds here and I thought some old fashioned comfort food would hit the spot right about now. I remember visiting my grandma during my childhood and one of the dinners she would always make was Chicken and Dumplings.....the fluffy doughy biscuits floating at the top would try to melt away if I didn't gobble them up first. And then the thick stew filled with chicken and other tidbits would be next down the hatch. If there was any left, seconds were usually not out of the question. I remember her process was an all afternoon affair. She boiled the whole the chicken first while making her own stock, and then picked the meat off the bones for the soup. I'm sure that is what made it so special.

What's great about this recipe is that it takes literally 25 minutes tops and is so tasty and satisfying. I even had that flashback moment like in the movie Ratatouille, where Ego, the nasty food critic, tastes the dish and is sucked back in time to when he was a kid. Isn't that what food is about anyways? Making memories with your family and enjoying each other's company? It always amazes me what tastes and smells can bring me right back to being a kid.

Give this a try before the warm weather hits....you won't be disappointed and may even add it to your winter menu rotation like I am going to do!

Chicken and Dumplings by Rachael Ray

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds chicken breast, cut into small bite size pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil 1 turn of the pan
2 tablespoons butter
1 russet potato, peeled and diced
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced or thinly sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 rib celery, diced
1 bay leaf, fresh or dried
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning, (I also added 1/4 t. dried thyme)
2 tablespoons flour
1 quart chicken broth or stock, canned or paper container

2 cups Bisquick

1/2 cup milk
Handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 cup frozen green peas

Directions

Dice tenders into bite size pieces and set aside. Wash hands.

Place a large pot on stove over medium high heat. Add oil, butter, vegetables and bay leaf and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Season mixture with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Add flour to the pan and cook 2 minutes. Stir broth or stock to the pot and bring to a boil. Add chicken to the broth and stir.

Place biscuit mix in a bowl. Combine with 1/2 cup milk and parsley until a dough consistency forms. Drop tablespoonfuls of prepared mix into the pot, spacing dumplings evenly. Cover pot tightly and reduce heat to medium low. Steam dumplings 8 to 10 minutes. Remove cover and stir chicken and dumplings to thicken sauce a bit. Stir peas into the pan, remove chicken and dumplings from heat and serve in shallow bowls.

Carrot Fennel Soup

Do most people go to farmer's markets with a list? Or a menu they are trying to shop for? If so, I must be the minority type of patron. While I seek out bargains and stick to a list for pantry items, I am extremely impulsive when it comes to buying fresh produce. Most times I see something that looks particularly fresh or intriguing. Something that would normally cost a fortune at the local supermarket. Take fennel bulbs, for instance. They cost $3+ at the grocery store, but fresh from the fields....$1.50 and !

Anyway, once home with my fennel this week (or okra or pattypan squash) the question always comes up, what am I going to do with that thing? I've made a raw shaved fennel salad on this blog, so now it's time for a soup. This one is actually pretty healthy and dairy free. I really enjoyed the sweet and subtle anise flavor of this soup. Don't leave out the fennel oil...it really makes the soup stand out!


Carrots and fennel caramelize when roasted at high heat, then release their sweet essence when blended. A drizzle of fennel-seed oil echoes and intensifies the fennel flavor.

Carrot Fennel Soup

1 medium fennel bulbs with fronds
5 carrots, coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, sliced
1 garlic clove
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
1 teaspoon fennel seeds

Special equipment:an electric coffee/spice grinder

Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in lowest position.

Chop enough fennel fronds to measure 1 tablespoon and reserve. Discard stalks and remaining fronds. Slice bulb 1/4 inch thick and toss with carrots, onion, garlic, 2 tablespoons oil, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Spread in a 4-sided sheet pan and roast, stirring occasionally, until browned and tender, 25 to 30 minutes.


Blend vegetables in a blender with broth until very smooth. Transfer to a medium saucepan. Thin to desired consistency with water and simmer 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, finely grind fennel seeds in grinder and stir into remaining 2 tablespoons oil.
Serve soup drizzled with fennel oil and sprinkled with reserved fronds.

Soup can be made 1 day ahead and chilled. Serves 4.
Fennel oil can be made 2 days ahead and kept at room temperature

Recipe is adapted from Gourmet Magazine, November 2008

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

When I think of fall several types of food come to mind......baked winter squash, hearty soups and poached pears. Because its still in the 80's here (temperature, not decade - hah!), we haven't quite gotten the autumn feel, but I still oven-roasted a head of cauliflower yesterday, with plans of a simple creamy and healthy soup.

I made a cheesy cauliflower soup recently, but I prefer this one, hands down. I was going for a more subtle flavor this time, with the cauliflower center stage - no onions, garlic, cheese or other herbs (besides the garnish). I think roasting the cauliflower first gave it a sweet nutty flavor which worked really well. I balanced that roasted flavor with a dash of sugar, which gave it even more depth. It's also really important to blend it vigorously so that it has a rich creamy consistency.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup
1 head cauliflower
2 T. olive oil
1/2 cup FF half and half
1/2 cup milk
1 small can veggie broth
generous amount of salt & pepper
1/2 tsp. sugar

Heat oven to 450. Cut up and spread cauliflower on baking sheet. Drizzle oil over and mix gently so it's evenly coated. Roast for 20-25 minutes, stirring a couple times until soft on the inside and browned on the outside. Chill until cooled.

Put cauliflower and rest of ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Heat on the stove until hot. Gobble up with a nice grilled cheese sandwich. Yum!

Spicy Roasted Corn Soup

Make this. Now.

Spicy Roasted Corn Soup

5 ears super sweet local corn
1 tsp. olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup cilantro
2 tsp. Sriricha hot sauce (or a couple of hot chiles)
Juice from half a lime
1/2 cup milk
salt/pepper

Shuck and grill the corn until starting to char. An alternate method is to cut the kernels off and then pan-fry on high heat until they start to caramelize (that's what I did). Put 2/3 of the corn kernels, the cilantro and broth in a blender and blend until smooth. In another pot, saute the onion and garlic in the oil until soft. Add the remaining corn, blended corn mixture, lime juice and hot sauce (or chile). Cook for another 5 minutes. Add the milk and seasonings. Stir and serve.

On a budget? Make some corn soup! With prices around 4 ears for a buck, this is a cost efficient way to eat gourmet. Complete the meal with some Jiffy cornbread.

Deanna's Chicken Pho

When I started this dish, I wasn't sure how it was going to end. Let me explain. Chicken thighs needed to be cooked....so I throw them in the crockpot. Hmmm...now what? Let's go Asian today. Okay so, in goes the onion, garlic, soy, fish sauce, water, ginger & lemongrass.

After about 4 hours, the chicken was done and a wonderful smell permeated the house. I tasted the remaining broth in the crock and determined that it was soup-worthy for sure. Then I started looking up some pho (I THINK you pronounce it "phuh") recipes to see if there were any other flavors missing: Yes, cinnamon and anise. I add a dash of each and voila! Perfect pho (for a beginner like me).

Chicken Pho
2 lbs. chicken thighs, skin removed
3 T. soy
3 T. water
1 T. fish sauce
1 tsp. Sriracha sauce
1/2 onion, chopped
1 inch chunk of ginger, peeled and smooshed
3 garlic cloves, smooshed
1 stalk of lemongrass, cut into 1 inch pieces and smooshed
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
(smooshed means hit with the back of a knife to release the aromas - don't bother chopping)

Throw everything into the crock and cook for about 4 hours or until chicken seems done. Remove chicken from pot and strain out the other solids, saving the broth. Here you can skim the fat off of the broth if you'd like (I did). Put broth back into crockpot. Add about 3 cups of water, a squeeze of lime juice and some rice stick noodles. Pick the chicken off the bones and put back into crock. Cook on low for another hour or until the noodles seem soft. Garnish with green onion, cilantro and slice chile peppers.

This was outstanding and flavorful. I'm not sure if it's a classic pho, but it was my version! Give it a try if you dare.

Cheesy Cauliflower Soup

I was thinking of Mrs. Seinfeld's book when I went to make this soup. The Marketing Associate (aka MOM) touted this soup as "Super Duper Cheesy Soup" to her toddlers and Production Manager (MOM again) made sure that it's main ingredient was veggies.

My kids LOVE cheese, but this soup is mainly cauliflower and carrots with a just a little cheese. The carrots give it the "cheese color". It went over great with the 2 year old, not so much for the 3 year old. I didn't take that personally because he does not eat much these days unless it starts with the letters P-I-Z-Z-A.

Added bonus: This is another crockpot recipe.

Cheesy Cauliflower Soup
1 head cauliflower, cut up
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
4 cups broth
Dry spice of choice (parsley, thyme, basil, etc.)
salt/pepper

Throw all of the above into crock and cook on high for 4 hours until tender.

Blend everything up in the blender to desired consistency. I went for really smooth. Return to crock and add:

1 cup milk
1/2 cup grated sharp cheese
2 tsp Worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp sugar (optional)

Cook on low for another hour or so. I left it on warm for a couple hours and it was fine.

African Lentil Soup

I'll take "Spices" for $800, Alex. On this continent you would find a spice blend of cinnamon, tumeric, ginger, and cumin all together in one soup.

What is "Africa"?

After looking at several recipes for lentil soups, I decided to take a few ingredients from something called "Moroccan Stew" and "African Chicken Soup" to make our dinner tonight. After being away for the past 4 days (I wish it was on vacation, but thats a whole other story), I found that most of the veggies in the fridge went south on me. I had carrots and an onion left.

Here is what I came up with and it was totally yummy. My two year old even begged me for a taste. I thought it might be a little too spicy for him, but he came back for several more bites. Scott also raved about it, said he liked the spice combo and asked if it was healthy. Indeed!

African Lentil Soup

1 T. olive oil

1 chopped onion

3 carrots chopped

1 can diced tomatoes

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp tumeric

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. cayenne

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1/2 c. chopped cilantro

6 cups water or veggie broth

1 cup lentils (rinsed)

1/2 cup orzo or other small pasta

2T creamy peanut butter

Saute the onions and carrots until starting to turn soft, about 7 minutes. Add all the spices and drained tomatoes (save the juice) and saute for another 5 minutes, stirring often. Dump in the broth, reserved tomato juice, cilantro and lentils. Simmer with the lid on for 2 hours. Remove lid, add orzo, cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. Stir in the peanut butter until melted. You can eat it like that or thicken it up by stirring with a stick blender for a few seconds. Squeeze in a little lemon juice if you like the tang.

Barley Alphabet Soup

Do you ever just make stuff up? I guess once you figure out what spices go together, then whipping up a "dump" soup is pretty easy. I call it a dump soup because it always contains a couple of cans from the pantry...usually beans, tomatoes, chicken stock, etc. and whatever you happen to have in your fridge. I am getting ready to go grocery shopping so this is what I had left in my stock: 1 sweet potato, leftover easter ham, half bag of baby carrots, 3 green onions.

I almost feel challenged to create something interesting when there is so little produce in the house.....like a quickfire challenge. (By the way, last week on Top Chef the quickfire was to create something with 5 ingredients! - cool!)

Here is the "recipe" which actually came out quite tasty!

Barley Alphabet Soup

1 T. olive oil
half bag of baby carrots
1/2 cup pearl barley
1/2 cup leftover spiral ham, chopped
2 cans chicken stock
2 cups water
1 can diced tomatoes
1 T. ketchup
1 T. dijon mustard
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp dried parsely
3 chopped green onions
1 sweet potato, chopped
1/4 cup alphabet pasta

salt and pepper to taste

Cook the carrots, barley and ham in oil for 5 minutes, until barley gets a little toasty. Add the stock, water, tomatoes and seasonings. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add green onions and sweet potato and simmer for another 15. Using a stick blender, blend up for a few seconds to break down some of the chunks. There should still be a lot of texture, but the soup will now be thicker. Add the alphabet pasta and cook just until pasta is tender. Serve with cornbread or salad.

Beef and Guinness Stew with Herbed Dumplings

Not your average light spring meal for sure....but darling husband saw the recipe in our local supermarket free monthly magazine (Raley's) and looked at me like Puss 'N Boots on Shrek....with those big wide eyes. "Okaaaaaaay, I'll make it." We were only a week late for this St. Patty's Day themed meal....

I'm posting the recipe because it was pretty decent. However, it seemed to turn a little "bitter" the next day and I'm wondering if it had anything to do with the beer. I might try the same recipe with red wine instead of beer and see how the leftovers taste then.

Beef and Guinness Stew with Herbed Dumplings

2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided

2 lbs. chuck beef or sirloin, cubed

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

1 onion, chopped

1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 cups each: Guinness Beer and beef broth

2 ribs celery

1-2 russett potatoes

1/2 lb mushrooms

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

Dumplings:

1 1/2 cups Bisquick

1/2 cup milk

1 Tbsp each: fresh parsley, fresh basil

1 tsp. fresh rosemary

Heat 1 tbsp. oil in pot. Add beef in small batches and brown well on all sides. Remove and set aside. Add other tbsp. oil and saute onions, carrots and celery. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 2 min. Add beer and broth, cook and stir until slightly thickened. Add beef back to pot with remaining stew ingredients and bring to boil. Cover and simmer over very low heat for 1 1/2 hours. Remove lid and simmer another 15 minutes. Prepare dumplings by mixing everything together and dropping by the spoonful onto the top of the stew. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, or until the dumplings are cooked through.

Tom Kha Soup...kind of.

Today I was craving the sweet-sour-spicy Thai soup called Tom Kha and decided to make it.....well a version of it, using the ingredients I had on hand. I don't usually stock galangal, lemongrass or kaffir lime leaves in my fridge, so I had to improvise. Before you are too impressed that I'm throwing around exotic terms like galangal, you must know that I took two Thai cooking series a few years back. Well, probably 5 years ago, since I was not yet pregnant with Owen.

Tom Kha is a coconut based soup spiked with lime juice to give it tang and infused with hot chili's for balance...since I was lacking some of the flavors, I decided to use a bit of red curry paste as a substitute. I also added cauliflower as the feature veggie. I'm not really a measure it out type of cook, so here is my best guess of what I did:

Red Curry Tom Kha Soup

1 tsp. Red Curry Paste (Mae Ploy brand)
1 cup coconut milk

2 cups broth

1 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 Tbsp. sugar

1 sliced jalepeno

2 cups steamed veggies or cooked meat

Juice of a huge lime or 2 small ones

6 button mushrooms, quartered
2 green onions

Sprig of basil

Heat up a few tablespoons of the cocconut milk and cook the curry paste in it for about a minute, releasing the aromas of the spices. Add the rest of the coconut milk and broth, heat to just below boiling. Add the rest of the ingredients, being careful not to let it come to a roaring boil, or the coconut milk will separate (If that happens, don't panic, it will still taste good). Let simmer for a few minutes and garnish with green onion and basil.

Testing...Hello World

Hello there. It's official. I've given in to the extreme gravity pull that is blogging. I don't expect anyone to read this, but what the heck? My inspiration for this blog will be cooking, photography and things that tickle my funny bone.

I've been perusing blogs lately such as "Fat free Vegan Kitchen" and reading up a little on food photography and food styling. It is a field that I am extremely intrigued by. While I have a Nikon D80 on my wish list, right now I am making do with an Olympus point and shoot. This is the best I can do.


Here is a photo of Bean Soup with Kale that we had for dinner tonight, along with an english muffin. This was a simple soup, yet satisfying and tasty. I have to say that when my darling husband saw me setting up the shoot on our counter, he really thought I was nuts.

This was my first venture with kale. A Wikipedia search informed me that this is the most nutrient-rich veggie around, high in anti-oxidents, beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin A, vitamin C, lutein and reasonably rich in calcium. My new goal is to try one new fruit, veggie or grain every week. Should be interesting.....

Bean Soup With Kale

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon olive oil or canola oil
8 large garlic cloves, crushed or minced
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 cups chopped raw kale
4 cups low-fat, low-sodium
chicken or vegetable broth
2 (15 ounce) cans any type of beans

4 plum tomatoes, chopped

2 carrots, chopped
2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

In a large pot, heat olive oil. Add garlic and onion; saute until soft. Add kale and saute, stirring, until wilted. Add broth, beans, and all of the tomato, carrots, herbs, salt and pepper. Simmer 30 minutes. Ladle into bowls; sprinkle with chopped parsley, if desired.