Chicken Soup with Herb Dumplings

I just had the best anniversary! My husband gave me a card, among other things, that ended with "With all my love, your husband." I have the best husband in the world, and I don't tell him that enough. It's hard to believe it's been four years since our wedding. We went to Vermont to take anniversary pictures to celebrate. Hopefully I can share them with you soon!

Actually, we are both recovering from a week long cold. During which, all I wanted to eat was soup. Thick chicken soup with dumplings. This is the best thing to eat when you're under the weather. It will warm you right up.

Chicken Soup with Dumplings
Makes 4 servings

2 chicken thighs
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp thyme
1 tbsp olive oil
2 carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3 cups water

Herb Dumplings
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp basil
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp chopped parsley
4 tbsp cold butter, cubed
1 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season chicken thighs with salt, pepper, oregano, and thyme. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes with the skin side up in a flame proof casserole. Take the chicken thighs out. Remove the skin and bones. Divide the chicken into bite size chunks and set aside. Add the olive oil and heat it on medium high heat. Cook carrots and celery until tender. Turn the heat down to medium. Add the skins and bones back in the pan with water and Worcestershire sauce. Bring a boil and let simmer for 20 minutes.

In the mean time, make the herb dumplings. Stir together the flour, salt, oregano, basil, baking powder, ground black pepper, and parsley in a medium bowl. Add butter and rub into the mixture with your finger tips. Stir in the milk to make a very thick batter. Bring the soup into a boil and drop the dumplings in with a spoon. Simmer for another 20 minutes.

Crockpot Chicken Soup With Shiitake Mushrooms

It's still kind of chilly in the Northeast. It's after Easter, so I should getting some spring cleaning done, but it doesn't feel much like spring. Well, that's my excuse anyway. There are flowers blooming but I still need a coat when I go outside. On the bright side, it's perfect weather for some chicken soup in a crockpot. We made two dinners out of it. Once with rice, once with noodles. Mmmm noodles.

Crockpot Chicken Soup With Shiitake Mushrooms
Makes 4 small servings

3 chicken drumsticks
5 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 onion, quartered
2 carrots, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 potato, scrubbed & cubed
1/3 cup Marsala
1 3/4 cup water
1 1/2 tsp salt

Combine everything in the crockpot. Add one more drumstick and mushroom if you wish. Mine simply won't fit. Pour more water in to cover everything if needed. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 9 hours. Enjoy with cooked rice or noodles!

We had Chinese style noodles from the Asian food market. It's almost as good as Japanese ramen. Speaking of which, I can't wait to go back to Boston and have some more. But in the mean time, chicken soup with noodles will do!

Personal Chicken Pot Pies

It's about time I made Bill's favorite meal - chicken pot pie! You probably know by now how much I love my Kitchen Bible, but the chicken pot pie recipe just didn't work out for me. After some trial and error, I finally figured out how to make a good chicken pot pie. It's even a little bit healthier compared to the store bought version, according to Bill.

The first time I made chicken pot pie, I didn't know whether to cook the filling on the stove or in the oven. The recipe did not specifically say simmer until thickened, so I assumed the oven will finish the job. It came out very watery. Now I know better. When my crust is chilling, I make the filling and thicken it on the stove. Then it only takes 20 minutes to bake the crust and the pot pies are ready to eat! This time I decided to make personal pot pies because Bill was skeptical that these soup bowls will ever get used. I showed him! This recipe makes four personal pot pies or one 9 inch pie.

Basic Puff Pastry
2 cups all-purpose flour
12 tbsp unsalted butter
4 tbsp ice water
A squeeze of lemon juice

Chicken Pot Pie Filling
2 tbsp butter
1 cup chicken cut into pieces
1 medium onion
2 celery stalks1 large carrot
1 large parsnip
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 tbsp flour
salt & pepper

Puff pastry may seem intimidating the first time, but it really just take some prep work ahead of time. First, chill the butter in the freezer. I can't remember where I read this, but it's a really useful tip. Any time you start thinking about making a pie, put the butter in the freezer. It makes the butter easier to cut into the flour. When you are ready to make the crust, cut the butter in pieces and mix in with the flour.

Making Paula Deen proud

Cut the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter until well-mixed with some larger pieces of butter.

Add a squeeze of lemon juice and ice water, one table spoon at a time into the flour. Mix it with a fork until well hydrated. Pack the mixture into a ball and cover it with plastic wrap. Put it in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. This is when you can start making the filling.

I like The Kitchen Bible's mix of traditional veggies (celery, carrots, peas) and parsnip. Next time I will try adding the green beans from my in-laws' garden. Pot pie is a great way to incorporate vegetables into a meal!

Stir veggies on medium heat with butter (or oil) until tender. Then add the stock and heavy cream. Simmer for 20 minutes. Sprinkle and stir in the flour one tablespoon at a time to thicken. Don't forget to season it with salt and pepper! I always forget.

After washing, chopping, and mixing the filling, your 30 minutes are probably up. Dust the surface and rolling pin. Roll the dough out into a 8x10 rectangle, then fold it in thirds onto itself.

I made a couple more folds so I could skip another chilling cycle after this one. Also, instead of chilling in the refrigerator, I put it in the freezer for five minutes, just to save a little bit of time.

Spoon filling into oven-safe bowls. Roll out the dough into a square and cut four pieces. Cover each bowl with pastry.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. They are very hot. Be sure to cool for ten minutes before serving!

This one fell in

You can bake all four or save half of the filling and pie dough in the fridge up to three days for an easy lunch or dinner.

Chicken for Dinner

First of all, happy birthday to my sister! We live in different states, so I can't help her celebrate today, but I'm thinking of her. I'm really looking forward to seeing her in December. We sent our well-wishes and a present via snailmail--a buffalo tallow soap from Yellowstone we obtained during our roadtrip this year. Don't worry, she already received it so I'm not spoiling the surprise.

Wild buffalo in Yellowstone National Park

We had a friend over tonight for dinner before joining him to a Bible study. I wasn't sure what he likes, but chicken sounded like a safe choice. I made Chicken Cacciatore from The Kitchen Bible, modified with what I had on hand and farmer's market cherry tomatoes.This recipe stood out from the other chicken recipes because it is served with polenta, which adds some variety to my usual rice or pasta or potatoes. The best part, it takes less than an hour to make!

Chicken Cacciatore with polenta, asparagus, and a slice of pumpkin

Chicken Cacciatore
makes 4 servings

4 chicken legs
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, sliced
3/4 dry white wine
15 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 chicken bouillon added to 1 cup of boiling water
7 oz white mushrooms, sliced
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp dried rosemary, chopped
1 tsp rubbed sage
2 tbsp canned black olives, drained

Season chicken with salt and pepper, and cook chicken with 1 tbsp olive oil until browned in a large casserole over medium-high heat, about 4 minutes. Remember to turn your chicken! Transfer to a plate. Pour the fat out of the pan.

Stir the onion and garlic in the remaining olive oil over medium-low heat, until softened. Stir in the wine and boil for 1 minute, while scraping up the bottom of the pan. Stir in the three-quarters of the tomatoes, stock from chicken bouillon, three-quarters of the mushrooms, celery, tomato paste, rosemary, and sage, and bring to a simmer.

Return chicken to pan and cover. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add the olives and the rest of the tomatoes and mushrooms and simmer for 10 more minutes with the lid off. Serve with polenta to soak up the juices.

FYI, I'm not that strict about the amount of ingredients when it comes to cooking. I used worry about exactly how big is a medium onion or how much salt to sprinkle. I don't anymore. These measurements just serve as a guide.