I am sooo sorry! I can't believe this didn't post last night, don't hate me! You can still have this for dinner if you eat late dinners or live on the West Coast! Lol I am sorry. Well here is YESTERDAY'S post:
Everyone knows that Chicken noodle soup is everyone's favorite. It is quite possibly the reason why Campbell's came up with the phrase "MmmMmm Good"... either that or they somehow knew about Tim Tebow or Channing Tatum way before the rest of us! Just sayin'!
Ernie ways, I love chicken noodle soup... it's good for the teenage soul, ha... but no really. It is such a comfort food from my childhood that I could never turn my back on it. My mom makes the BEST chicken noodle soup. There is no competition, and even if there is, there isn't. She puts fairy dust in it I'm certain, or opium, either way it's mesmerizing. Unfortunately I am not as good of a cook as her and I hope I never will be because I always want her to cook for me when I go home, instead of me cooking for her.
Tonight, though, I'm going to spin chicken noodle soup. I'm going to throw out the classic soup with noodles and insert dumplings and *bonus* even a recipe for gnocchi! BAM! I just blew your mind, how do you feel?
Chicken Noodle Soup (Class act)
1 Tablespoons Oil
1 each Yellow Onion
2 each Garlic Cloves
2 each Carrots
2 each Celery Sticks
1 each Chicken (about 3-4#)
1 quart Chicken Broth (Please don't use the kind that has a ton of preservatives in it!!!)
1/2 quart Cold H2O
2 sprigs Fresh Thyme
1 each Bay Leaf
1/2 teaspoon Sage
TT Salt and Pepper
Start off by getting your soup pot on the stove and heating it up. Add the oil (I suggest olive oil) and get it to temp. Add the onions first, sweat them, aka leave them in the pot till they become tender, NOT browning them like you would if your were caramelizing them! Add the garlic and then follow suit with the carrots, celery and bay leaf. Stir those around for a couple minutes, you just want to start to tenderize everything, and then add your chicken stock.
Cut your chicken into about 8 pieces** not removing a lot of the excess fat (it's good for flavor) and then add your water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Skim the fat and grease off the top of the soup continually to avoid gelatinization of the soup when it's cooled. When you're about 30 minutes out add your sage and then at about 15 minutes out add your fresh herbs. Adding your fresh herbs too soon will kill the herb and the flavor and that really sucks.
** You can also cut your soup time in half or more by buying a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken and shredding it and adding the chicken meat to the soup, warming it through and just cooking the vegetables and developing flavor. OR you can go back and make your crock pot chicken by clicking {here} and shred it and add to the soup only having to worry about cooking the vegetables.
Here is where you would usually be boring and add your egg noodles. NOT TONIGHT ladies! You're going to be fun, and exciting and daring... ohhhh yeah.
Dumplings:
2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
Cold Water
Mix the salt and flour together in a bowl. Move the flour around in the bowl so it looks like a doughnut with the flower on the outside and a blank ring in the middle... Oooo I want a doughnut now, Boston Creme with chocolate glaze to be specif, shoot... pouring about 1/2 cup-3/4 cup into the ring, incorporate the ice water and flour together. Kneading the dough so it becomes well incorporated but not over worked. Cause then you have cement dumplings and those aren't good for the dentist bill. Let the dough sit for a couple minutes, about 7-10.
DO NOT ADD DUMPLINGS TO THE SOUP UNTIL YOU ARE SURE IT'S DONE COOKING.
You can not stir the soup once the dumplings are in there or else you're going to end up with no dumplings and very floury tasting soup. Once your soup is ready grab a teaspoon, you know, the kind you eat your coco puffs with in the morning, and start scooping out your dumplings. Remember, you want them to be bit size, not too big not too small.
DO NOT ADD DUMPLINGS TO THE SOUP UNTIL YOU ARE SURE IT'S DONE COOKING.
You can not stir the soup once the dumplings are in there or else you're going to end up with no dumplings and very floury tasting soup. Once your soup is ready grab a teaspoon, you know, the kind you eat your coco puffs with in the morning, and start scooping out your dumplings. Remember, you want them to be bit size, not too big not too small.
Once you get the dumplings in gently swirl your wooden spoon in the pot to make sure all the dumplings are getting cooked evenly. This does not take long, 3-4 minutes max. Once your dumplings come floating to the top they are done. Cooking them too much will also result in no dumplings and very murky floury soup. Remove from heat and ladle into your favorite soup bowl! Enjoy!
**BONUS**
Gnocchi
2# Starchy Potatoes
3 each Eggs (lightly beaten)
1 cup Flour
Salt
I honestly can't explain it better than this recipe, so I'm going to redirect you now. If you want to know how to make Gnocchi the click {here}
I hope you all enjoy this recipe passed down from many, many women and onto the next generation. I pray it brings you some comfort on these beautiful fall days!
XoXo Family
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