Chicken "Noodle" Soup

Cough...Sniff...Ach-OOO... Yep, the flu that has been going around at work has finally caught up with us. When Adrienne texted me yesterday to say she wasn't feeling well, I was already feeling kinda funky myself. After I got off work, I knew what I had to do. I threw a chicken, some celery, carrots and kale into my shopping basket and headed home. I swirled together a quick chicken stock in one pot, sauteed my veg in another, and in about an hour and a half I had a big steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup ready to eat.

We've replaced most of our white flour pasta reserves with whole wheat pasta. For awhile now I've been getting pasta from Litteri's and this past weekend we drove over to their market with one goal in mind: a couple of their hot and simple meatball subs. We came home with subs, yes, but we also ended up with a big box of goodies including more pasta, wine, cheese, canned tomatoes, anchovy paste, a squeeze bottle of roasted yellow pepper finishing sauce, and more. Definitely check this place out if you're in DC, but beware... you could go as crazy as we did!

Anyway, so, when I was rummaging around in the pantry, I came across these whole wheat pasta shells to use in the soup instead typical noodles. I like shells because they give the soup a satisfying toothy bite plus they're small enough to spoon in one bite with less slurping than traditional noodles.

The upside is that whole wheat pasta is better for you; the downside is that the pasta tends to break up after soaking in the broth for awhile. You could certainly cook the pasta separately and add it to individual bowls to keep it intact, but I just let the pasta do what it was going to do.

There's nothing better than a big steaming bowl of brothy soup on a cold day to warm you down to your toes. And if you're feeling a little under the weather, this traditional chicken soup with a little noodle twist is bound to soothe your aching throat.

Now where'd I put that big box of tissues?

Chicken "Noodle" Soup
Makes 6 servings

8 cups chicken stock (see below for recipe if making your own)
2 lbs chicken breast and leg quarters
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup celery, thinly sliced
1 cup carrots, thinly sliced
1 cup onions, small dice
1 cup kale, chopped in short ribbons (I like Dinosaur Kale)
1 cup whole wheat pasta shells (or whatever pasta you like)
salt and pepper to taste hot sauce to taste (optional)

Quick Chicken Stock

2 lbs chicken breast and thighs, skin removed
1 onion, halved
1 carrot
2 stalks celery
4 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp black pepper
water to cover, about 8 cups

1. Make a quick chicken stock by adding raw chicken, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves and pepper to a stock pot and cover with water, about 8 cups. Bring to a near boil then turn down and simmer for an hour. Skim stock of as much fat as possible, then strain stock and reserve chicken pieces. When chicken has cooled, cut into bite-sized pieces and set aside.

2. Alternately, if you are using prepared chicken stock, put raw chicken into the cold stock and bring just to a boil. Cover, turn off heat, and let sit for about ten minutes. Pull out cooked chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces and set aside.

3. While the stock simmers, saute onion, celery, and carrot in olive oil in a dutch oven on low until soft but not browned. Add stock, cooked chicken, kale, pasta and cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste.

Chicken and Dumplings

My mom's made this soup for as long as I can remember and, lemme tell ya, it never EVER gets old. Making this soup created one of those stories that always pops up at family gatherings. Here's how it all started:

One afternoon in the fall of 1990 or so, my mom decided to make a big pot of chicken and dumplings. She got out her big stock pot and went crazy chopping up onions, celery, carrots and chicken. As everything simmered away, she rolled out the dumpling dough (she likes strips of dough instead of balls) then let it rest in the fridge. Just before the soup was done emptied a few cans of Cream of Something soup into the simmering pot, cut the dough into strips and dropped them in, then watched for them to float to the surface.

We waited anxiously for the soup to finish before jumping right into the pot with our spoons. "Mmmmm...this was a really good batch, Mom! A really, REALLY good batch," we managed between mouthfuls. If she was to make an extra large pot of any soup, this was the one. She made so much that we couldn't fit it in the main refrigerator. Luckily we had another fridge on standby out in the garage for other goodies. The chicken and dumplings lasted for at least four days as I brought friends over to try it for themselves.

For 17 years now, we keep bugging her to replicate that legendary pot of chicken and dumplings. Like many great cooks, Mom doesn't really write down ingredients or strictly adhere to recipes, so the chase continues. Since great soup weather is finally here, I decided to jump in the kitchen and try once again to recapture one of my favorite comfort foods. I did change a few things to mom's version. I made my own bechamel cream sauce instead of using Campbell's Cream of Whatever Soup. I also made dumpling balls instead of strips. (It was a lazy day and I didn't feel like rolling out the dough.) Try my version or spruce it up with a few of your own twists. Just make sure to keep me in the loop if you end up with a really, really good batch that your family can't stop talking about!

Chicken and Dumplings
Serves 6-8
1 small whole chicken (2-3 lbs)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, cut into quarters
2 bay leaves
1 tsp salt
10 cups water
6 sprigs thyme
4 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp dry sherry
1 medium yellow onion, diced
4 ribs celery, diced
4 carrots, peeled and diced
1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
4 green onions, thinly sliced on bias
salt and pepper to taste

1. Rinse chicken under cold water and cut into 8 pieces, remove skin from thighs, legs and breasts and set aside.

2. Heat a dutch oven or stock pot over medium-high heat and brown the chicken back, neck and wings and onion in olive oil for about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low, cover and continue cooking for about 20 minutes more.

3. Increase heat to medium-high and add 10 cups water, chicken thighs, legs, and breasts (with skin removed), bay leaves and salt, and bring to a simmer.

4. Cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes, just until chicken is cooked through. Strain stock and pull chicken off the bones and into small pieces when cool enough to handle.

5. In a clean stock pot, melt butter and add flour, stirring for about 3 minutes. Whisk in sherry and let cook for two minutes, then slowly whisk in strained stock and bring to a boil to thicken slightly, then return to a simmer.

6. Add onion, celery, carrot and thyme leaves and simmer until vegetables are tender. While soup simmers, make dumpling dough (see recipe below).

7. Add shredded chicken, cream and green onions to the pot, then season with plenty of salt and pepper. Drop dumplings slowly into simmering soup, then cover and let cook for about 15 minutes. Get your spoons ready and SERVE!

Dumplings
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp butter
1 cup milk

Heat milk and butter until butter is melted. Combine dry ingredients, then add to milk and butter, mixing until a very soft dough forms. Scoop out small dumplings (1 Tbsp each) and drop into simmering soup. A small spring-release ice cream scoop works very well for getting uniformly-sized dumplings.

Cool as a Cucumber Soup

We're in the thick of summer and gardens across the country are exploding with fresh, homegrown veggies. Along the East Coast, despite the current drought, we are still up to our ears in cucumbers, squash and tomatoes.

Lately the word on the street is that “locally grown” is as equally important as “organic.” I’ve been reading Barbara Kingsolver’s latest book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life which documents a year in her life when she and her family committed to eating only locally produced food. Kingsolver and family are avid gardeners and grow enough produce from March to October to last them throughout the entire year. It’s a truly inspiring book that will make you think twice about buying those strawberries in January or asparagus in October. I find it frightening that I never considered how much fuel it took to transport those off-season fruits and veggies from halfway across our planet and all the way to my table.

There are some great recipes you’ll find in the book and thankfully, Kingsolver has published them on her book's Web site. We’re going to do our part to help curb emissions this summer by eating locally—We challenge each and every one of you to do the same. Support your local farmers by heading out to your farmer’s market this weekend and loading up on some fresh, locally grown produce, meats and dairy for the week ahead!

We all have more cucumbers than we'll know what to do with--so here’s a soup that's healthy, inexpensive and will certainly cool you off on a hot day. This recipe is from Animal Vegetable Miracle and of course I added a few touches of my own. The soup also doubled as a refreshing dip for my quick and healthy Grilled Herb Chicken Wings--the recipe for that will be coming shortly. In the meantime, consider perusing our new favorite bbq blog for other finger-lickin' good recipes! Enjoy!

Cucumber Yogurt Soup with Mint Almond Pesto

4 cucumbers, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 1/2 cups water
2 cups plain yogurt
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp fresh mint

Combine all ingredients and puree in blender. Chill for about 2 hours.

Mint Almond Pesto

1 cup fresh mint leaves
zest of one lemon
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp sliced almonds
2-3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Combine all ingredients and puree in food processor or blender.

Serve soup with a generous dollop of pesto on top.

Chicken & Sausage Gumbo

Who'd have thought it would take three months for a girl from Baton Rouge to post GUMBO on her soup blog?? I'm embarrassed it's taken so long, but here it is! Finally!

My plan was to feature Seafood Gumbo at the end of December because we have it every year at my mom's house for Christmas dinner. And every time I go home I have to eat at The Chimes--I think they have the best Seafood Gumbo in town, besides mom's of course!

But let's face it, seafood is expensive, especially up here in DC, away from the Gulf Coast where shrimp are jumping around like water on a pancake griddle! My wallet just won't let me make it this week, but I've made my second favorite gumbo of all time: It's Chicken and Sausage Gumbo!

Interested in delving a little further into the history of gumbo? Check here for more detailed information. I love Chuck Taggart's site called the gumbo pages. He's got a wealth of excellent information plus it's fun to read!

Most Louisiana recipes begin like this: "First you make a roux..." For gumbo, I like to make a dark roux. And you can't burn it or else you'll have to start over! This is the foundation for the gumbo so take your time! Like my mom says, you've got to keep stirring it and bring it to the point where it's almost about to burn, then it's just about perfect. About the color of dark milk chocolate. Or coffee with a touch of cream. Speaking of stirring, I got a roux spoon last year for Christmas! It's squared off on the edges so you can get to the roux in the sloped curves of your pot! Check out my spoon and note the evolution of my roux in the photos to the left.

I promise you'll love it! Special thanks to Jennifer at Weekly Dish for the inspiration!

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Serves 8 (at least)

1 small chicken, quartered and seasoned with salt and pepper
1 lb andouille or any smoked sausage (I used turkey sausage!) sliced

1 cup flour
1 cup vegetable oil

2 medium yellow onions, medium dice
2 bell peppers, medium dice
4 stalks celery, medium dice
6 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (careful!)
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper

1 1/2 quarts water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
OR chicken stock
4 Tbsp hot sauce (I love Crystal!)
4 green onions, thinly sliced

Boiled White Rice, about 1/2 cup per person

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and sear the chicken in vegetable oil until golden brown, about 8 minutes total. Remove the chicken from the pot. Brown the sausage the same way and remove.

2. Add flour, stirring constantly over medium heat with a wooden spoon until the roux is the color of dark milk chocolate. Scrape the sides and the bottom frequently, because it will burn easily! The roux should take about 20 minutes total. If you burn it, there's no way around it. You must start over!! This is the hardest part!

3. Once you've got the roux chocolate brown, add all the vegetables and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the herbs and spices and season with more salt and pepper. Slowly add the water and crumbled bouillion cubes (or chicken stock) while stirring constantly to avoid lumps.

4. Add the chicken and sausage and bring to a boil, then simmer for about 2 hours, skimming away any excess fat that rises to the top of the gumbo. When the meat is falling off the bones, remove the skin and bones from the pot and make sure the chicken is broken up into smaller pieces. If you like your gumbo thicker, just let it simmer a while longer to let it reduce a bit.

5. Stir in the sliced green onions and serve over boiled white rice. I like less rice, more broth and sometimes I like no rice! It's up to you!

6. Serve with hot sauce, Tony Chachere's cajun seasoning, and file powder.