Chicken Wild Rice Soup

I must apologize for NOT posting in a month. Honestly, time has gotten away from me! Now that we are into winter, the soup recipes that I will be posting should come in handy.

Chicken Wild Rice Soup Makes 8 servings

3 - 14 oz. cans of chicken broth
1 c. coarsley chopped carrot
1/2 c. wild rice, rinsed and drained
1/2 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 c. fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 T. butter
1/4 c. flour
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1 c. heavy whipping cream
2 c. chopped cooked chicken, 10 oz.

1. In a 4 quart Dutch oven, combine 2 cans of the broth, the carrot, uncooked wild rice, celery and onion. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 35 - 40 minutes or until wild rice is tender but still chewy; add mushrooms the last 5 minutes of cooking.

2. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour, 1/4 t. salt and pepper. Add remaining 1 can broth. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 minute more. Stir in whipping cream. Add whipping cream mixture to wild rice mixture, stirring constantly.

3. Stir in chicken; heat through. If desired, garnish individual servings with freshly snipped chives.

If you make this ahead of time, prepare as directed; cool slightly. Cover and chill for up to 2 days. Reheat over low heat before serving.

Rowley Family Chicken Pot

Sorry that my posts have been few and far between. This happens every year with a new start for school but I also added in a new position within our soccer organization and the bakery is going full speed ahead. I will be posting only 3 recipes a week, but the good part is, they will all have photos. I like color photos that show what a dish is going to look like.

This is more of a creation recipe for my family. I took all the things I love about my grandma's chicken dish and added a few new elements and it came out very tasty! The little drop noodles (or dumplings if you prefer to call them that) are so easy to make and they don't care if you make them a little bit smaller or larger. ENJOY!

Rowley Family Chicken Pot Serves 8

Chicken Pot:

1 whole pick of the chick (whole chicken, cut up)

3 c. water

2 chicken bouillon cubes

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 can stewed tomatoes (if you love tomatoes, use a large can, if not, use a smaller one)

2 cans (from cream of chicken soup) of milk

2 cans (from cream of chicken soup) of water

2 t. garlic powder

2 t. onion powder

2 t. dried basil

2 t. dried tarragon

1 t. parsley

1 t. salt

1 t. pepper

1 recipe drop noodles

Drop Noodles:

3/4 c. sour cream

3 whole eggs

2 c. flour

salt

1. Place chicken, 3 c. water and chicken bouillon cubes into Dutch oven or roasting pan. Cook chicken for 45 minutes - 1 hour at 350 degrees. Be sure chicken is cooked through. Remove all bones from chicken. Cut chicken meat into larger chunks or shred if you prefer. Set aside.

2. Strain chicken broth into a saucepan, heat to boiling. While broth is heating, mix sour cream and eggs. Add 1 c. of flour, stir. Add second cup of flour along with about 1/2 t. salt. With the side of a spoon, create little moons, drop dough into boiling liquid. They will float when they are done. These drop noodles should be on the small side, but not tiny. You can make them larger if you like, but they will take longer to cook. Place cooked noodles into a bowl. Set aside.

3. Into your Dutch oven (do not worry about cleaning after the chicken has cooked in it, unless you want to). Place all the other ingredients for the chicken pot. Add chicken and begin to heat on medium low. Once everything is mixed together and smooth looking, add your drop noodles. If this is too thick of a dish for you, add more milk or water (milk makes it creamier, water makes it more soup like).

4. Serve either on dishes (if you make it more creamy) or in bowls (if more soup like). We serve with a warm bread and salad. You can change this dish to suit your taste also. Add paprika, more salt, less salt ... however your family prefers.

Chicken Soup with Gnocchi

I was having lunch with my Mom at Olive Garden the other afternoon. One of my all time favorite lunches is "Soup, Salad and Breadsticks" at O.G. My Mom and I went through the soup bite by delicious bite trying to come up with the ingredients. I think we came up with a pretty good recipe here. I am going to use my mortar and pestel to grind down the herbs. Gnocchi (for those who don't already know) is a delicious little Italian Potato Dumpling. I have a pretty good recipe (from my friend Patty B.) but I have to admit that tonight I am using (gasp!); frozen Gnocchi. My apologizes to all my Italian American friends. Enjoy.










Chicken Soup with Gnocchi



1 chicken cut up (cooked and meat shredded or chopped)

1/2 c. butter

3/4 c. celery (chopped fine)

3/4 c. onion (chopped fine)

1/2 c. carrots (grated or chopped fine)

1 1/2 t. garlic (minced)

1/3 c. flour

1 1/2 c. heavy cream

4 c. chicken broth

3/4 c. fresh spinach (julienne chopped)

16 oz. Gnocchi

1/2 t. dried rosemary

1/4 t. black pepper

1/4 t. white pepper

1/4 t. tarragon



1. Melt butter in a stock pot.

2. Add onions, celery, carrots and garlic; saute until soft.

3. Add flour; mix well. Cook 3-4 minutes; stirring frequently.

4. Add cream and chicken broth; mix well. Cook until thick and boiling.

5. Reduce heat, add chicken, spinach, gnocchi and remaining herbs and seasonings.

6. Cover; cook on low 8 - 10 minutes until gnocchi are tender.

Renee's Chicken and Dumplings

My boss brought in Chicken and Dumplings the other day to work. They tasted soooo good. I asked for the recipe and she said; "you're not going to believe how easy this is to make". Good, I like easy! The other good part of this recipe is inexpensive. For about $7.00 I made enough chicken and dumplings for 1 meal, lunch a 2nd day and froze about 2 servings for later in the week.
NOTE: when buying biscuits, look for inexpensive ones; you don't need Pillsbury, any store brand or off brand will do. Look for homestyle, not butter or flaky. Also, in the recipe I refer to biscuits before they get into the broth, but dumplings once in the pot.



1 whole chicken; remove giblets if they are in the chicken
4 cans of inexpensive refrigerated biscuits (the ones I buy come in a 4 pack)
chicken stock / bouillon cubes or grains
1 stick of butter
flour
stock pot


1. Place chicken in stock pot with enough water to cover chicken. Let chicken boil on high for about 1 - 1 1/2 hours. Check chicken for doneness (no pink color near the bones)
2. Remove chicken, place in bowl to cool.
3. In pot of boiling water add the stick of butter. Measure the bouillon / stock / grains to about how much water in left in your stock pot. I used about 6 bouillon cubes. At this time if you think you want more liquid, add more water and stock liquid / grains etc.
4. Open a package of biscuits; on a lightly floured surface, roll each biscuit thin. Cut in half and then into small strips (you should get about 10 pieces per biscuit). Add about 4 T. of flour to a medium sized bowl; toss biscuit pieces with flour in bowl. I was placing about 1/2 a can into the bowl and then putting those into boiling broth to cover the top.
5. After each addition of biscuits to the broth, stir about every 1 or 2 minutes. Dumplings will puff up and then will sink to the bottom. Stirring will help the dumplings to not stick to the bottom of the pot.
6. Continue making more dumplings; adding to broth; stirring. Until all are added.
7. By this time your chicken should be cooled enough to remove from bones and shred. Place shredded chicken into the pot.
8. Enjoy chicken and dumplings!

Creamy Chicken Pasta Soup

It's soup time! This is a creamy, dreamy chicken soup recipe. My suggestion would be to make a huge batch and freeze some for later.


Creamy Chicken-Pasta Soup


3 T. butter
4 oz. button mushrooms
1 c. sliced celery
1 c. shredded carrots
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 T. all purpose flour
6 c. chicken stock or low salt chicken broth
1 1/2 c. half and half
2 T. fresh parsley
1 1/2 pounds chicken, cut into 1/2" pieces (use either boneless skinless breasts or tenders, depending on what is on sale)

1 c. penne pasta
1/4 pound sugar snap peas, halved diagonally
3 T. fresh squeezed lemon juice


1. Melt butter in a heavy stock pot over medium heat. Add mushrooms, celery, carrots and onion. Cook until celery and onion are tender, about 5 minutes. Add flour and cook 3 more minutes, stirring frequently. Gradually add in chicken stock. Bring soup to simmer, stirring frequently. Add half and half and chopped parsley; simmer 5 minutes. Add chicken and simmer until cooked through, about 5 more minutes. Soup can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool slightly. Cover and refrigerate.

Cook penne pasta in large pot of boiling water until just tender. Drain pasta. Bring chicken soup to simmer. Mix in cooked pasta and sugar snap peas; simmer again 2 minutes. Mix in lemon juice; season to taste with salt and pepper.

*** if freezing soup, do not add these ingredients; add when reheating soup at a later date. Pasta gets mushy after freezing. ***

White Chicken Chili

Ok folks it's getting pretty cold here in Ohio. I think the stockpot is looking for some nice warm chili. As much as I hate to admit this; tomato based products give me heartburn. UGH ... that makes me sound so OLD! But it's the truth, so it's a nice warm White Chicken Chili for me.

White Chicken Chili Serves 6

1 medium onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T. vegetable Oil
2 cans (15 1/2 oz each) Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained
4 c. chicken broth
2 T. fresh parsley, minced
1 t. ground cumin
1 T. lime juice
2 T. cornstarch
1/4 c. cold water
2 c. cubed cooked chicken

1. In a large saucepan cook onion, pepper and garlic in oil until tender.
2. Stir in beans, broth, parsley, lime juice and cumin; bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes; stir.
4. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into chili.
5. Add chicken and bring mixture to a boil.
6. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thick.

Note: I double or even triple this recipe; which is why I need my stockpot to make this in. After cooling in the stockpot, I then fill gallon resealable bags with soup, place them on baking sheets on their sides and freeze them. After they have frozen in that "flat" condition, they are easier to stack in my upright freezer.