Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Cream of Chicken Soup with Cheddar and Herb Dumplings

Cream of Chicken Soup with Cheddar and Herb Dumplings

When I was growing up, my mother always made chicken soup from scratch. She'd serve it either with noodles or matzo balls and the boiled chicken would be shredded and used to make sandwiches. It was good but if I wanted any other kind of soup, it came out of a can, and my favorite was cream of chicken. I didn't want any visible herbs or chicken pieces in it, either, and would fish those out with a spoon. No, my picky child's palate wanted that smooth, velvety texture. As an adult, I don't mind the additions but the canned variety of the soup has lost its appeal and I haven't had it in a long time.

Cream of Chicken Soup with Cheddar and Herb Dumplings
Recently, though, I saw easy homemade cream of chicken soup recipes on both The Cooking Actress blog and Pinch of Yum. Could this soup really be that simple to make? The answer, it would seem, is yes although the flavor is a bit different from the canned soups of my childhood. But it's still quite delicious and I made it pretty lean as well. I added lots of fresh dill, which is one of my favorite herbs, and some over-the-top delicious dumplings. And now I have a homemade, grown up version of my longtime favorite soup. Enjoy!



Ingredients
(Adapted from The Cooking Actress and Pinch of Yum)

Soup:
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 Cup all purpose flour
32 oz. Chicken stock
1 Cup milk (I used low fat)
1/2 Teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
1/2 Teaspoon garlic powder
Pepper to taste

Dumplings:
2 Cups all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 Teaspoons salt
1/4 Teaspoon pepper
2 Eggs
1 Cup buttermilk
1/4 Cup fresh chives, chopped
1/2 Cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Cream of Chicken Soup with Cheddar and Herb Dumplings
To make the soup, melt the butter in a large Dutch oven or soup pot. Add the flour and whisk for a few minutes until all the flour granules are coated. Slowly add the chicken stock while whisking so that the flour pieces are broken down. Add the milk, dill and seasonings. Lower the heat to medium and cook for approximately 30 minutes until the soup thickens.

To make the dumplings, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, chives and cheese. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir just until combined. Using a tablespoon or 1 oz. scoop, drop the biscuits into boiling water, lower the heat to medium and cook for approximately 20 minutes until the dumplings are puffed up and firm. Note that many people like to cook their dumplings in the actual soup so that the dumplings pick up the soup flavor. I find, however, that it makes the soup cloudy and I prefer to cook them separately. An option, though, is to use chicken stock instead of water to cook the dumplings. Makes approximately 16 dumplings.

12 comments:

  1. Anita, this soup sounds amazing. I used to love alphabet soup when I was a kid, but not so much now. Homemade is the way to go.

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  2. Cream of chicken soup=SOOOOO easy! And I love the amazing dumplings!

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  3. Double YUM...cream of chicken soup AND dumplings! I don't know why I don't make dumplings more often...just love them! And I like the idea of cooking them in chicken broth, then adding them to the soup.

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  4. Buttermilk and cheese dumplings!!! Oh baby! I also fished out the pieces of chicken in the canned soup and discarded them. But I don't think that makes us picky, I think we were smart, we just didn't want those dark grizzly pieces. Right?

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  5. Good heavens! This sounds so warm and comforting - it's finally cold enough here to make soup and enjoy it and I am going to pin and then make this!

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  6. Anita, I can't wait to try this, I have one child that could live on Chicken and dumplings! This will be such a nice change for the rest of us.

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  7. Looks amazing Anita! I am definitely adding dumplings to my next batch of soup.

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  8. Oooh... this looks like the ultimate comfort food! Great job Anita, this looks absolutely delicious.

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  9. Oh my, this sounds yummy, Anita. My fave as a kid was cream of mushroom (I admit to still eating the canned stuff lol) but cream of chicken was a very close second. I will definitely have to try this!

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  10. Oh how I love dumplings in soup. I do love creamy chicken soup and the cheddar dumplings in it is fab!!
    And it is interesting how tastes change as we age. Well, except for my husband. I swear his tastes never change.

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  11. Hate to admit that I've never had dumplings in soup before, but your pictures make me want to try this recipe!

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  12. When I simmered at med heat for 30 minutes, the stock cooked down to nothing and the higher temps caused the milk/flour to basically scold at the bottom of the pan. I would recommend simmering this stock at lower heat and with a lid on the pan. I added two more cups of chicken stock to remedy the problem and it caused the soup to taste too salty, although it had nice flavor before the hiccups. My dumplings were mush when I cooked them in boiling chicken stock. I quickly made an alternate batch using Bisquick, buttermilk, and cheddar. I spooned them in my soup and they turned out fine. I also added three shredded cooked chicken breast.

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