I have a weakness for sick people. My friends all know this about me. For the record, by "sick", I mean some sort of physical ailment such as a cold, the flu, the sniffles, etc. (Although with my dating track record, you'd think I meant the more disturbing kind of sick...) Anywho, so, earlier this week when I found out one of my very sweet girlfriends was sick, I immediately took some chicken out of the freezer. While I'm not a huge fan of soup, I do enjoy making it because it lends itself to all kinds of creativity. Think about it...soup is basically seasoned water. The last few times I've been sick, I made chicken enchilada soup, and it has turned out to be one of my favorite meals.
In November...possibly early December, another friend and I went to the oh-so-amazing, Homestead Heritage. I love that place, just sayin'. While there, among other goodies, I got some pasta mix. Really it's just a bag of semolina flour, but I guess people feel less intimidated by the use of the word "mix". All you do is add eggs, and BAM! it's pasta time. I hadn't used it yet...the poor bag had been sitting in my refrigerator unused for about two months. I thought making a classic pot of chicken noodle soup for my friend would be the way to go...until my creative juices got going. I then decided chicken and dumpling soup was needed. It would be hardier, and thus have greater healing powers. (side note: my secret hope is that one day I'll make soup that actually heals people, maybe even grows back a lost limb).
I set to work taste-patching. Taste-patching is what I do before creating something, or improving upon recipe. It's really no different than what a quilter does when planning the materials they will put together to make a quilt. First, I came up with the baseline flavor/texture: Creamy chicken. Secondly, I mentally flipped through my taste catalog and came up with other flavor components & ingredients: mixed veggies, garlic. Lastly, I picked some accents...some flavors/textures I wanted to stand out...pop...make the dish special. Pasta dumplings & green onions. Basically, the idea behind taste-patching is to mentally go through your taste memory catalog and select flovors you think will work well together, whether they are classic taste combinations or not. After all that was worked out, it was just a matter of figuring out how to create the food experience I'd envisioned.
The most worrisome part of this particular task, was to figure out how to make the pasta dumplings. I thought that if I just used the semolina flour and followed that recipe, I'd have some very dense, doughy pasta chunks. I couldn't remember whether or not I'd ever made dumplings before, so I began scouring my cookbooks for a dumpling recipe. I finally found one in a very old book, who's recipes in the past have greatly disappointed me. My plan wasn't use use the whole recipe anyway, so I felt better about consulting the book.
Chicken and Dumpling soup
2 cups chopped baked chicken (baking/roasting lends better flavor as opposed to boiling)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
3 cups chicken broth (either homemade or your favorite bullion, set aside 1 cup to help control soup consistency)
3-4 garlic cloves, minced (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
16 oz frozen mixed veggies
Salt
pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 tbs margarine or butter
green onion bunch
Pasta Dumplings
1-1 1/2 cups semolina flour (regular flour could also work)
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
3 Tbs shortening
pinch or two of salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
While it's preheating, start boiling the chicken broth (all of it, you'll set aside 1cup after the dumplings are done).
In a large roasting pan (preferably the one you used to roast the chicken), pour in the frozen veggies and the butter. Roast at 400 degrees for about 8-10 mins (or until cooked through and browned slightly).
In a small bowl, take a 1/2 cup of the flour and cut the shortening in.
In a larger bowl, mix the rest of the dumpling ingredients together, then add the shortening infused flour. A workable dough should form.
Dump this dough out onto a floured surface (if it's sticky, don't worry, just keep it covered with flour and you'll eventually knead enough in to make it easy to handle).
Knead it just until everything is well mixed.
Roll the dough out until it's about 1/4th of an inch thick.
Cut into squares or small triangles.
Put dumplings into boiling broth one at a time.
Let them cook 20-30 seconds longer after they rise to the surface (they should rise to the surface within seconds of being put in the broth).
Remove them from the broth, and place in a bowl, or in the roasting pan w/the veggies if they are done.
When all the dumplings are cooked, the broth level should be greatly reduced in the pot. Set aside some broth at this time.
Add the cans of mushroom soup.
Dump the chopped chicken in the roasting pan with the dumplings and veggies.
Add all spices to the mushroom soup mixture, then taste for seasoning. If it is too salty, add a little milk or broth (if the broth isn't salty).
When it is the desired consistency, pour the mixture over the contents of the roasting pan.
Mix until everything is coated.
Cover the pan with foil, and bake 10 mins at 375.
When you remove it from the oven, sprinkle with the chopped up stalks of the green onion (should be about a 1/2 cup) just before serving. This can be a fairly labor intensive meal, but it is completely worth it!
