Sunday Soup (Or Is It Soup Sunday?)

I tried a new soup recipe this week and there's not much I can say about it . . . except it was THE BEST chicken with dumplings I have EVER made.  (And believe me, I've tried more than a few of 'em!)

This scrumptious recipe was shamelessly lifted from The Iowa Housewife where you can find any number of great recipes.  Sue and Myrna, sisters who write the blog, cook food from scratch that reminds one of what we sat down at the table to eat back when the only convenience foods were those a homemaker pulled off the pantry shelf or out of the freezer.

To find Sue's recipe for Chicken Stew with Dumplings (and a good picture) click here.  I made only a couple of small changes I'll tell you about after I post the recipe.

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CHICKEN STEW WITH DUMPLINGS

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 large chopped onion

1 cup sliced carrots

2 stalks sliced celery

1 pint canned chicken (or 1-1/2 cups cooked poultry)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 cups chicken broth (use any drained from canned meat plus

    home canned broth or prepared broth to make 3 cups)

Dumplings

3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons cold butter

2 teaspoons parsley, dry or fresh

1/4 cup chicken broth (or milk)

Heat butter in soup pan over medium high heat until hot.  Add onion, carrots and celery; cook and stir until tender, about 10 minutes.  Add chicken, pepper and larger amount of broth.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 15 minutes.

Place flour and baking powder in bowl.  With pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in parsley.  Add remaining broth and stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto simmering stew.  (You should get about 12 dumplings.)  Cover and cook (don't lift cover!) over medium low heat for 10 to 15 minutes or until dumplings are firm.

Makes 4 servings.

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My notes:

I used two tablespoons of butter in which to saute the veggies instead of just one.

My meat was some boned turkey I had in the freezer and the last (sob) of the great turkey broth made from our Thanksgiving Day turkey.

Since I didn't have any fresh parsley, I substituted some fresh frozen chives from the freezer.  

I used broth in the dumplings which I thought gave them a unique and very flavorful taste.  (They were so tender, too!)

I cooked the dumplings for 10 minutes first but when I checked, I thought they needed that last 5 minutes to firm up, so cooked them the whole 15 minutes.

This recipe does serve only four so you may want to double it.  As Sue said in her post, while the dumplings are cooking the liquid of the stew magically (my word) turns into an almost gravy-like texture.  (Swoon.)

You won't be sorry if you try this soup/stew.  It.  Is.  So.  Good!!