Chicken and Dumplings
Chicken soup is famous with moms the world over for its restorative properties, but this version, with its tender sage-flecked dumplings, will make you feel good even if you don’t have the sniffles. Use a gentle hand when mixing the dough to ensure the dumplings will be light and delicate.
Ingredients:
- 2 Tbs. olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 8 cups chicken stock
- 4 cups shredded cooked chicken
- Fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 2 tsp. minced fresh sage
- 3/4 cup whole milk
Directions:
In a soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and celery, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften, about 5 minutes. Add the stock and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Add the chicken. Season with salt and pepper.
To make the dumplings, in a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and 1/2 tsp. sea salt. Stir in the sage. Add the milk and stir to make a soft dough. Using a tablespoon, drop equal mounds of the dough onto the surface of the simmering soup. Cover and cook until the dumplings are firm, about 15 minutes.
Spoon the soup and dumplings into warmed large bowls and serve at once. Serves 8.
Variation: To make a classic chicken noodle soup, omit the dumplings and add cooked egg noodles or small pasta shapes, such as ditalini, along with the chicken, and heat through. For chicken and rice soup, add cooked long-grain rice and heat through. Don’t add uncooked noodles or rice, as they will soak up too much liquid, making the soup too thick.
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Comfort Food, by Rick Rodgers (Oxmoor House, 2009).