My Great Menu

Creamy Chicken and Dumpling Soup

Way back when, I used to get a delicious Chicken and Dumpling soup from a now defunct deli. I've tried replicating that soup and this is the closest I've come. It's a comforting, warming and homey soup.  Add a crusty bread and green salad, it's a perfect meal for a cold day.

 

Creamy Chicken and Dumpling Soup

Serves 6-8 

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter

1 medium onion, diced small

2 stalks celery with leaves, diced small

3 medium carrots, diced small

 1/2 cup plus 1 Tablespoon flour

7 cups chicken broth, homemade or made from better than bouillon chicken base

3 sprigs of parsley

3 springs of fresh thyme

1 bay leaf

1/2 tablespoons kosher salt

2 3/4 cups cooked, diced chicken

1 cup milk, 1%

1 teaspoon butter

1/2 cup Wheat Farina or Cream of Wheat cereal

Dash of salt

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 1/2 teaspoons dry sherry

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Melt butter in large stockpot over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and carrots. Cook covered, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft about 12 minutes.  Sprinkle flour over the vegetables. Stir with a wooden spoon for about 2 minutes.

Add broth a cupful at a time whisking constantly. Bring to a boil. Tie parsley springs, thyme and bay leaf together with kitchen twine. Add the herb bundle and salt to soup. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the dumpling mixture. In a sauce pan, bring the 1 cup of milk, 1 tsp butter and dash of salt to a boil. Add the wheat farina. Stir until mixture is thickened. Cool until mixture is barely warm. Add beaten egg and mix well. 

Add chicken to soup and bring to a boil. Using two spoons, drop dumpling mixture by 1/2 teaspoons into boiling soup. Cook for 5 minutes or until done.

Remove soup from heat. Remove and discard herb bundle.

Stir the heavy cream and sherry into soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Homemade English Muffins

The Tartine Bread book has inspired me to continue making bread. (And I'm not much of a baker.) It's been so much fun. After making the Basic Country Loaf, I ventured on the make the English muffins.  I had no idea that the English muffins were made on the stove top. I guess I never really thought about it. It was cool to see the rounds puff up.  They're made from the baguette dough. The book, Tartine Bread, describes the steps on making the dough. The dough needs to be started 2 days before you're planning on eating them.  Once the dough is made, it is held overnight and ready to be cooked in the morning. Delicious! Love the nooks and crannies.

Homemade English Muffin, split & whole

Cooking on the stove

The Best Caesar Salad

This is by far the best Caesar salad. I love making for dinner parties. Gives me an excuse to make it and enjoy. The croutons and dressing are delish. My little salad lover adores this Caesar salad and well, my salad hater still doesn't like salad but loves the croutons. When making this salad for people who like things a little less spicy, reduce or eliminate the cayenne pepper on the croutons.

 

Caesar Salad (inspired by Martha Stewart)

Ingredients

Serves 4 to 6

For the Croutons

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 loaf (8 to 10 ounces) rustic Italian bread, cut into 3/4 inch pieces

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For Salad

2 cloves garlic

4 anchovy fillets

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 heads (10 ounces each) romaine lettuce, outer leaves discarded, washed and dried

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

 

Preparation:

Croutons:

Preheat oven to 450ºF. Combine butter and olive oil in a large bowl. Add bread cubes and toss until coated. Sprinkle salt, cayenne pepper, and black pepper; toss until evenly coated. Spread bread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake until croutons are golden, about 10 minutes.

Press garlic through garlic press or mince very finely. Place garlic, anchovy fillets and salt on a plate. Mash into a paste. Place into a small bowl. Whisk in pepper, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and mayonnaise.

Tear romaine leaves into 1 - to 1 1/2-inches pieces. Place croutons, romaine and cheese in a large bowl and drizzle with the dressing. Toss well. Serve immediately.

Extra dressing may be stored refrigerated up for 4 days.

 

Trio of Caramelized Cauliflower

I saw these beautiful green, orange and white cauliflower at the local farmers market. We love caramelized cauliflower. Even my little mister "i don't like cauliflower" quietly eats all of the caramelized cauliflower on his plate. With this recipe, plain ol' white cauliflower is delicious and with the green and orange is pretty and yummy.

Trio of Caramelized Cauliflower

Caramelized Cauliflower (Mad Hungry)

 1 head of cauliflower, washed, trimmed, cored, and thinly sliced (pieces will crumble; doesn't matter)

1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Spread the cauliflower in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet Drizzle over the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Roast until the cauliflower is lightly caramelized, turning once about 30 minutes. 

Making Tartine Bread at Home

Is it possible to make great artisan bread at home? Yes! I read Tartine Bread by Chad Roberston over the holiday break and decided to give it a go. After three weeks of feeding and monitoring the starter (we named Bob), we enjoyed our first baked at home Tartine Bread. The crust was crisp and the insides soft and delicious. It does take a significant amount of planning and monitoring. The bread is worth it. I'm going to try to make the English Muffins next.

If you want to try it, I recommend getting Tartine Bread book or going to Martha Stewart.com. Her site has a step by step detailed recipe that has very specific measurements for the starter. The book gives step by step details with more what to do if this happens and offers more flexibility that will allow the baker to understand and develop their bread baking skills using a starter.  

Whole Loaf

 

The inside