Sunday, November 22, 2009

Chicken Soup of the Soul


Today was a picture perfect fall day. It started off foggy and chilly, but once the sun came out, mild temperatures and blue skies made it a wonderful day to be outdoors. I took advantage of it by cutting and edging the grass, and trimming the trees and bushes before playing some football (soccer) and touch rugby with Nancy, Gavin and one of his friends.

And what better dish to round off the day than chicken soup and dumplings. When I'm looking for recipe ideas, the "For the Love of Cooking" blog is one of the first places I check, and her wonderful "Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup" hit all the buttons - warming comfort food that's quick to make and delicious.

I made very little changes to the base recipe other than adding some homemade dumplings (any time I eat soup is an excuse to make dumplings). I bought a small chicken this morning, cut it up and boiled it with a few chunks of onion, carrot and celery thrown in until it was fall apart tender. Then I waited until it cooled, removed the skin, shredded and kept it covered in the fridge until ready to use.

Here's my simple recipe for the dumplings.

1 cup self raising flour
Parsley flakes
A few drops of canola oil
Enough apple cider to make a dough (about 1/4 to 1/3 cup)

Mix all the ingredients together, form into 10 small balls and throw into the soup.

I followed this recipe and added the dumplings just after the corn. Then I covered and let it simmer for 10 minutes to allow the dumplings to expand.

I was hoping to take some leftovers to work tomorrow, but there weren't any. Next time I'll have to make a bigger batch!!!

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